China’s Ministry of Finance and MOT Launch New Action to Upgrade National Integrated Freight Hubs
According to reports from the official website of the Ministry of Finance on April 9, to accelerate the improvement of the modern comprehensive transportation system and address bottlenecks in multimodal transport, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) have recently issued a circular on supporting the new round of the National Integrated Freight Hub Chain-Strengthening and Upgrading Action (hereinafter referred to as the Circular).
In line with the Circular, the two ministries will focus their efforts on supporting approximately 30 cities (city clusters) in implementing the new round of the action over about three years starting from 2026. The initiative will focus on the scope of the "6 Axes, 7 Corridors and 8 Channels" of China’s national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network—a key backbone of the country’s land development and economic circulation, with a total length of over 260,000 kilometers and a completion rate of around 90%.
Taking railways as the backbone and highways as the foundation, the action will give full play to the comparative advantages of water transport and civil aviation, accelerating the construction of a "trinity" national integrated transportation hub system consisting of integrated transportation hub clusters, hub cities and hub ports/stations. Through further improvements in four aspects—multimodal transport functions, cross-mode conversion efficiency, organizational model innovation and the overall efficiency of the comprehensive transportation network—it aims to enhance the transportation capacity of important strategic materials and key industrial products, and speed up the formation of an internally connected, safe and efficient logistics network.
The Circular specifies that the supported cities for the action are the "international and national integrated transportation hub cities" identified in the National Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, as well as the five-year plan for the national modern integrated transportation hub system. China plans to build about 20 international integrated transportation hub cities and 80 national ones in total, and eligible cities may apply jointly.
Priority will be given to hub cities (city clusters) that meet the requirements of national major regional strategies and major productive force layout, have strong synergy in the transportation chains of key cargo categories such as grain, energy, mineral resources and advanced manufacturing, and possess prominent multimodal transport functions. For instance, Zhengzhou, which is listed as an international integrated transportation hub city, is expected to be a key beneficiary of the initiative.
In terms of support types, the Circular clarifies that relevant local authorities should focus on enhancing the transportation capacity of important strategic materials and key industrial products, as well as the agglomeration and radiation capacity of corresponding logistics channels. They should design optimal transportation chains based on the needs of key cargo categories, focus on economical and safe transportation methods, and specifically address the shortcomings of multimodal transport.
For implementation, hub cities should identify key cargo categories with large circulation scales or strong support for national strategies in the main framework of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, sort out comprehensive transportation needs around their industrial and trade chains, and comprehensively promote common actions such as "hard connectivity" of infrastructure and equipment for various transportation methods on major corridors, "soft connectivity" of rules, standards and services, and the establishment of integrated operation mechanisms in accordance with the principle of "supplementing what is lacking".
In terms of fund allocation, for cities (city clusters) included in the annual support scope, the MOF will, based on recommendations from the MOT and its financial capacity, adopt a "combination of rewards and subsidies" approach, specifically arranging a certain scale of key project funds in the transportation field for support. It will also strengthen the overall coordination of other relevant central financial subsidy funds for local highway construction and funds from central enterprises.
