On November 12, the Ministry of Transport and the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Action Plan for Reducing Costs, Improving Quality, and Enhancing Efficiency in Transportation and Logistics." The plan proposes that the proportion of major goods transported by major coastal ports using port railway lines, waterways, enclosed conveyor belts, and new energy vehicles should exceed 80%. Efforts should be accelerated to promote innovation and development in intelligent logistics in the transportation sector. The construction of smart highways, waterways, ports, and hubs should be accelerated to promote the digital transformation and upgrading of transportation infrastructure. Pilot projects for the admission and passage of intelligent and connected (autonomous) vehicles should be expedited. Efforts should be made to strengthen the coordination and convergence of intelligent logistics standards in transportation in an overall manner. The demonstration and application of autonomous vehicles and driverless vehicles should be promoted in an orderly manner in key regions such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. New energy medium and heavy trucks should be promoted and applied based on local conditions, and special battery swapping stations should be constructed. A batch of charging piles, battery swapping stations, and charging parking spaces should be constructed in highway service areas. Efforts should be accelerated to improve the cleanliness of vehicles and ships in ports, airports, logistics parks, etc., and to accelerate the large-scale and standardization of water transportation equipment. Pilot projects for the full electrification of vehicles in urban public areas should be conducted in depth.

The original policy document is as follows:

Action Plan for Reducing Costs, Improving Quality, and Enhancing Efficiency in Transportation and Logistics

To thoroughly implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, give full play to the leading, foundational, and supportive roles of transportation and logistics, and promote the effective reduction of logistics costs throughout society, this action plan is formulated with the approval of the State Council.

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, this action plan comprehensively implements the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, fully and accurately implements the new development concept, adheres to systematic planning, focuses on policy implementation, prioritizes the market, is guided by the government, is goal-oriented, is problem-oriented, progresses steadily, strives for practical results, and accelerates the structural, systematic, institutional, technical, comprehensive, and operational cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in transportation and logistics to better serve the high-quality development of the economy and society. By 2027, significant achievements should be made in reducing costs, improving quality, and enhancing efficiency in transportation and logistics, and the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP should strive to be reduced to approximately 13.5%. The main framework of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network should be further improved, the infrastructure networking, supplementation, and chain strengthening should be promoted in depth, the transportation structure should be continuously optimized, the national railway freight turnover should increase by about 10% compared to 2023, the port container rail-water intermodal volume should increase by an average of about 15% annually, major breakthroughs should be made in the reform of the integrated transportation system, the "one-bill system" and "one-box system" for multimodal transportation should be accelerated, freight organization efficiency should be significantly improved, a batch of leading enterprises with international competitiveness should be cultivated, and the supporting role of transportation and logistics in the construction of a modern industrial system should be more prominent.

II. Enhance Compatibility with Industrial Development and Promote Structural Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Efficiency Enhancement

1. Accelerate the construction of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network. Focus on networking, supplementation, and chain strengthening, and moderately advance the planning and construction of the main framework of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network. Implement the railway freight network project, improve the conventional-speed railway network and heavy-haul railways, continuously optimize multimodal transportation systems such as "coal transported from the west to the east," "coal transported from the north to the south," and "grain transported from the north to the south," and strengthen the capacity building of coal transportation channels from Xinjiang. Research and promote the interconnection project of the inland water transportation system, accelerate the construction of the "four vertical and four horizontal networks" of national high-grade waterways, tap the traffic potential of trunk waterways such as the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, accelerate the construction of the Pinglu Canal, and expedite the preliminary work of the second phase of the Jingjiang River section project in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the second phase of the Yangtze Estuary South Channel waterway improvement project. Support about 30 cities to carry out the supplementation and chain strengthening of national comprehensive freight hubs.

2. Further promote the adjustment and optimization of the transportation structure. Organize and carry out projects to tackle the difficulty of optimizing the transportation structure. Accelerate the access of railway sidings to port yards, logistics parks, industrial and mining enterprises. Newly built and relocated logistics parks, industrial parks, industrial and mining enterprises, grain reserve warehouses, etc., with an annual cargo volume of more than 1.5 million tons should, in principle, be connected to railway sidings or pipelines. Vigorously develop river-sea intermodal transportation, water-to-water transshipment, and "bulk-to-container," and support the establishment of railway-water intermodal transportation and river-sea intermodal transportation organization and service centers. The proportion of major coastal ports using port railway lines, waterways, enclosed conveyor belts, and new energy vehicles for the transportation of bulk goods should exceed 80%. Encourage the development of zero-emission freight fleets. Standardize the charging behavior in all links of multimodal transportation. Promote the reduction of charges for the construction and use of railway sidings, shorten the construction approval time, and establish a professional and diversified operation and maintenance mechanism for railway sidings.

3. Promote the integrated development of transportation and logistics and industries. Optimize the layout of transportation and logistics infrastructure, support the efficient connection and deep integration of transportation and logistics with advanced manufacturing, modern agriculture, strategic emerging industries, etc., and promote the integrated and innovative fusion of the logistics supply chain. Formulate and improve measures to ensure the transportation services of new energy vehicle power batteries, energy storage batteries, and high-capacity photovoltaic cells, improve the layout of roll-on/roll-off terminals for new energy vehicles in ports, and actively expand the transportation of new energy vehicle container ships and multipurpose ships. Accelerate the improvement of the service and support system for the transportation of major goods such as energy, ores, building materials, and grain, and build a batch of bulk cargo blending, unloading, and transshipment hubs relying on major ports, important ports, and railway logistics centers.

III. Promote Efficient Connection of Various Links and Advance Systematic Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Efficiency Enhancement

4. Promote the innovative development of the "one-bill system" for multimodal transportation. Research and formulate management systems and technical standards for the "one-bill system" of multimodal transportation, and promote the convergence of rules for transfer and handover, cargo delivery, information interconnection, insurance claims, etc., among different modes. Research and establish a multimodal transport bill management system, support the electronic application of documents, and promote the real right of multimodal transport documents in the fields of international land-sea combined transportation and cross-border railway transportation. Deepen the quality improvement and expansion of multimodal transportation and accelerate the cultivation of about 30 multimodal transport enterprises with cross-regional connectivity and full-process control capabilities. Establish a mechanism for ensuring the entire duration of railway freight transportation, promote the operation of trains like passenger trains and direct services. Innovate models such as high-speed rail express, double-deck container trains, and multimodal express trains. Create about 20 cases of railway-water intermodal transportation brand routes.

5. Establish and improve the multimodal transportation system for domestic trade containers. Formulate and improve the standard system for domestic trade containers and promote the matching and connection of intermodal facilities and equipment. Encourage the construction of container pick-up and return points for domestic trade and improve the technical standards for container management services to promote the shared use of domestic trade containers. Accelerate the convergence and mutual recognition of industry standards for the classification, loading, and safety inspection of railway-water intermodal goods to promote the "one-box system" for multimodal transportation. Support eligible enterprises to carry out the same-ship transportation of domestic and foreign trade containers and implement the two-way operation mode of import and export for container foreign trade feeder services. Accelerate the promotion and shared use of unitized logistics carriers such as standard pallets, turnover boxes (baskets), etc.

6. Smooth the urban and rural logistics terminal circulation network. Optimize and improve the urban freight service network, research and promote special medium-sized enclosed vans for urban distribution, reasonably set truck traffic areas, routes, and time periods, and encourage the cancellation of traffic restrictions on new energy urban distribution trucks below light-duty. Vigorously develop new models such as joint distribution and warehouse-distribution integration, research and promote the integration of railway freight yards into the urban logistics system. Solidly promote the "express delivery to factories" and "express delivery to villages." Accelerate the integrated development of rural passenger and cargo postal services, vigorously promote suitable vehicle models, support county and township passenger stations with conditions to expand freight and logistics services, and jointly build and share comprehensive convenience service stations at the village level. Improve cold chain logistics facilities at the place of origin and vigorously develop cold chain logistics for agricultural products.

7. Enhance the service and support capabilities of the international logistics supply chain. Accelerate the construction of international transportation corridors such as the Trans-Caspian Sea route and cultivate stable and operational international multimodal transportation routes. Improve the bilateral and multilateral international road transport agreement system in the China-Europe direction, promote the connectivity of the China-Europe direct express channel, continuously expand the application scope of the TIR Convention, and improve border port customs clearance efficiency. Promote the integrated development of port, shipping, and trade in the "One Belt and Road Maritime Silk Road" and accelerate the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor and the Air Silk Road. Accelerate the construction of China-Europe Train assembly centers and optimize the operation plan for China-Europe Trains.

IV. Build a Unified National Transportation and Logistics Market and Advance Institutional Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Efficiency Enhancement

8. Continue to deepen reforms in key areas. Deepen the reform of the comprehensive transportation system, promote the reform of the railway system, and promote the market-oriented reform of railway freight. Establish and improve the coordination and synergy mechanism between the local railway network and the national railway network, and optimize the management rules for railway connections, over-track operations, and settlement. Increase support for airspace and time resources for air cargo. Optimize the air cargo security check process and innovate the assembly model. Actively develop commercial applications such as drone delivery. Coordinately develop toll roads dominated by highways that reflect the government's universal services and non-toll roads dominated by expressways. Deepen the implementation of differentiated toll collection on expressways.

9. Improve the level of market legalization and standardization. Establish and improve a differentiated and classified regulatory model based on credit evaluation. Improve joint law enforcement, information sharing, and joint disciplinary mechanisms for the production and modification of trucks, strengthen supervision and inspection of truck consistency, compact responsibilities in vehicle inspection and testing, and severely crack down on fake-licensed trailers. Steadily carry out the management of ultra-long flatbed semi-trailers and ultra-long container semi-trailers. Research and formulate management systems for online freight transportation and strengthen joint supervision.

10. Improve customs clearance efficiency and facilitation. Encourage the development of services such as international transshipment, cargo consolidation, and same-ship transportation of domestic and foreign trade. Promote the construction of smart ports, strengthen cross-departmental coordination among customs inspection units such as customs and frontier inspection stations and transportation units, and promote new customs clearance models such as "joint inspection and one-time release." Promote the docking of testing and certification rules and mutual recognition of results between the Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, deepen the implementation of the non-convention ship safety inspection cooperation mechanism between the Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, and promote international cooperation on inspection and quarantine and ship electronic certificates with more countries and regions.

V. Accelerate the Cultivation of New Momentum and Advance Technical Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Efficiency Enhancement

11. Accelerate the information interconnection and sharing of multimodal transportation. Formulate a list of multimodal transportation data sharing, promote data exchange and sharing among business entities, steadily promote the development and utilization of public data resources for transportation and logistics, and form a sustainable development model. Formulate a nationally unified list of relevant electronic certificates and application management specifications in the transportation sector and accelerate the promotion of "cross-provincial handling."

12. Accelerate the innovative development of intelligent logistics in transportation. Accelerate the construction of smart highways, waterways, ports, hubs, etc., and promote the digital transformation and upgrading of transportation infrastructure. Accelerate pilot projects for the admission and passage of intelligent and connected (autonomous) vehicles. Strengthen the coordination and convergence of intelligent logistics standards in transportation in an overall manner. Orderly promote the demonstration and application of autonomous vehicles and driverless vehicles in key regions such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

13. Vigorously improve the green level of technical equipment. Research and conduct transportation tests of double-trailer truck combinations. Promote and apply new energy medium and heavy trucks based on local conditions and layout the construction of special battery swapping stations. Promote the construction of a batch of charging piles, battery swapping stations, and charging parking spaces in highway service areas. Accelerate the improvement of the cleanliness of vehicles and ships in ports, airports, logistics parks, etc., and accelerate the large-scale and standardization of water transportation equipment. Conduct in-depth pilot projects for the full electrification of vehicles in urban public areas. Promote the establishment of a carbon asset management and carbon emission accounting mechanism in the transportation and logistics sector. Support the research and development, promotion, and application of high-speed rail logistics equipment. Accelerate the implementation of large-scale equipment renewal actions in transportation.

VI. Strengthen the Guarantee of Factor Resources and Promote Comprehensive Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Efficiency Enhancement

14. Continuously promote tax and fee reductions in transportation and logistics. Continue to implement the pilot project for special value-added tax invoices issued on behalf of online platform road freight transportation enterprises, and pilot enterprises can issue special value-added tax invoices on behalf of small-scale taxpayers of road freight who meet the conditions. Promote the full coverage of electronic invoices in the logistics sector. Continuously focus on the implementation of various preferential tax and fee policies that have been introduced. Regulate the business operations of container yards and strictly investigate and handle unreasonable charges leveraging dominant positions.

15. Increase the supply of land and sea resources for transportation and logistics. Strengthen the guarantee of key project land, sea, and island resources such as logistics channels, comprehensive hubs, railway sidings, ports, and terminals. Support the supply of transportation and warehousing logistics land through long-term leasing or a combination of leasing before transfer and leasing and transfer. Support the planning and construction of highway transfer freight yards and logistics centers near eligible highway entrances and exits. Encourage the expansion of express delivery, sorting, and urban distribution services relying on urban railway stations, highway passenger stations, and urban bus terminals.

16. Increase financial policy support. Give full play to the role of the unified registration and publicity system for movable property financing and the national financing credit service platform, and guide various financial institutions to increase their support for the financing of transportation and logistics enterprises. Encourage financial institutions to enrich financial products and services in the transportation and logistics sector and carry out movable property pledge loan business such as accounts receivable and order warehouse receipts.

VII. Support Enterprises in Improving Operational Efficiency and Promote Operational Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Efficiency Enhancement

17. Improve the supply chain management level of transportation and logistics enterprises. Deeply promote the integrated and innovative development of logistics supply chains in people's livelihood consumption, automobile manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, etc. Accelerate the cultivation of platform-based and comprehensive logistics supply chain service enterprises and enhance service capabilities such as multimodal transportation, inventory management, distribution, customs clearance, etc. Organize and carry out special pilot projects for building a powerful transportation nation through cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in transportation and logistics.

18. Create innovative and international leading enterprises. Enhance logistics service capabilities in specialized fields such as engineering logistics, pharmaceutical cold chains, and dangerous goods, and create a group of specialized and refined transportation and logistics enterprises. Support upstream and downstream enterprises in the international transportation and logistics industry to strengthen strategic collaboration and accelerate the pace of "going global."

All regions and departments should follow the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, strengthen organizational leadership, improve working mechanisms, form a policy synergy, and effectively implement various tasks for cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in transportation and logistics. The Ministry of Transport should work with relevant departments to improve working mechanisms, strengthen coordination and cooperation, strengthen the linkage between the ministry and provinces, promote the implementation of various tasks in detail, and promptly report major matters.