由 caicai8478 The value of multimodal transport lies in its role as a “skeleton” for improving efficiency within a single country. When combined with national strategies and transcending borders, it elevates to a “major artery” connecting continents and shaping the global trade landscape. The Belt and Road Initiative is a grand example demonstrating how multimodal transport, through international cooperation, can reshape the world economy.
I. A Pivot for National Strategy: Why Does the Belt and Road Initiative Favor Multimodal Transport?
The core of the Belt and Road Initiative is “connectivity,” and the foundation of connectivity is the smooth flow of logistics. Multimodal transport, due to its inherent characteristics, becomes the ideal fulcrum for realizing this strategic vision.
Alignment with the “Five Connections” Concept:
Policy Coordination: Promoting multimodal transport requires policy coordination among participating countries in areas such as customs, inspection and quarantine, and transport standards.
Infrastructure Connectivity: This is the most direct manifestation; building railway, port, and highway hubs creates the hardware network for multimodal transport.
Unimpeded Trade: Efficient and low-cost multimodal transport directly reduces trade costs and promotes trade prosperity along the Belt and Road.
Financial Connectivity: Infrastructure construction such as ports and railways requires huge capital investment, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund provide financial support.
People-to-People Connectivity: Smooth logistics facilitates the flow of people, cultural exchange, and common development, enhancing mutual understanding.
Solving the “Access to the Sea” Dilemma for Landlocked Countries: Multimodal transport (especially sea-rail intermodal transport) enables landlocked countries like Kazakhstan and Laos to efficiently connect ports in the East and West via rail, thereby deeply integrating into the global maritime trade system and realizing their dream of “living by the sea.”
II. International Cooperation Practices: Typical Multimodal Transport Models on the Belt and Road Initiative
In practice, the Belt and Road Initiative has spawned highly representative international cooperation models for multimodal transport:
- A Model of International Sea-Rail Intermodal Transport: The China-Europe Railway Express
Model: Goods arrive at ports along China’s eastern coast (such as Lianyungang) by sea, then are transferred to rail, passing through Central Asia, Russia, and other countries, ultimately reaching various parts of Europe. Conversely, the same applies. This is a typical example of “sea freight + rail” multimodal transport.
Collaboration Challenges and Breakthroughs:
Different Gauges: China uses standard gauge, while CIS countries use broad gauge. Trains need to switch gauges at border crossings, which is itself a manifestation of the “transshipment” concept in multimodal transport at the international level.
Customs Clearance: Promoting initiatives such as “Customs-Rail Integration” simplifies customs procedures, enables advance data exchange and mutual recognition of inspections, and significantly improves port clearance efficiency.
Unified Documentation: Promoting the use of a unified international railway bill of lading (CIM/SMGS) and exploring its function as a document of title is a key step towards achieving an international “single bill of lading” system.
- “New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor”: North-South Collaboration
Model: This is a north-south international logistics corridor traversing western China, using western provinces as hubs, utilizing rail and road transport, exiting through coastal and border ports in Guangxi and Yunnan, and then reaching ASEAN countries via sea.
Key Highlights of Collaboration: It achieves seamless integration of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” closely linking western China with Southeast Asian markets through multimodal transport.
III. Core Pain Points and Solutions in International Collaboration In the multimodal transport practice of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, international cooperation faces profound challenges, and the process of resolving these challenges is precisely the process of building new international rules.
Pain Point 1: Soft Barriers to Rules
Problem: Inconsistent transportation, customs, and inspection standards among countries, significant differences in laws and regulations, and difficulties in achieving “one-stop service” at the international level.
Solution: By establishing a “Belt and Road” customs cooperation mechanism and jointly compiling trade facilitation guidelines, the focus shifts from “face-to-face” consultations to “rule alignment,” aiming to create “standardized transport corridors.”
Pain Point 2: Difficulty in Operational Coordination
Problem: Operational coordination involving multiple countries and enterprises is extremely complex, information is opaque, and full-process tracking is difficult.
Solution: Building a digital “Belt and Road.” Leveraging cloud computing and IoT platforms, an international version of the “Multimodal Transport Public Information Platform” will be built, enabling full visualization of train location, cargo space, and document status, breaking down information barriers across national borders through technology.
Pain Point Three: Funding Sustainability
Problem: Infrastructure investment is massive, with long payback periods, necessitating a sustainable business model.
Solution: Promote public-private partnerships (PPP) to attract private capital participation in operations. Simultaneously, by increasing train load factors and return cargo ratios, a virtuous cycle will be created, shifting from “policy-driven” to “market-driven” models.
IV. A New Paradigm for Global Connectivity: From “Logistics Channels” to “Economic Corridors”
Multimodal transport international cooperation under the “Belt and Road” framework ultimately aims to achieve far more than just transporting goods. It is fostering a new paradigm for global connectivity:
Channel Economization: Where logistics channels pass, industries, capital, and information gradually converge. The China-Europe Railway Express not only transports goods but also drives industrial development in hub cities along the route, such as establishing overseas warehouses, distribution centers, and processing parks in participating countries.
Shaping a New Global Supply Chain Landscape: It provides a “third logistics channel” between air freight (fast but expensive) and pure sea freight (slow but cheap), offering a better solution for global enterprises to restructure their supply chains and enhancing their resilience and diversity.
Summary and Outlook:
Using the Belt and Road Initiative as a mirror, we can see that international cooperation in multimodal transport has transcended simple technical and managerial levels; it is a profound and systemic project. It reconnects geo-economic blocs through joint infrastructure construction, coordinated policies and rules, and shared operational information.
In this process, multimodal transport has evolved from a tool serving national strategies into a platform for shaping a new type of globalization and achieving common development. It proves that as steel camel caravans intertwine with the digital Silk Road, the dream of building a community with a shared future for mankind is gradually becoming a tangible reality through the smooth flow of containers.