In September 2019, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), together with the Ministry of National Resources, the Ministry of Transport, the National Railway Administration, and the State Railway Group, issued the policy announcement, “Guiding opinions on accelerating the development of dedicated railway lines” (NDRC 2019). It stipulated that, by 2020, 80% of China’s primary coastal ports, its large industrial and mining companies with an annual freight transportation volume of over 1.5 million tonnes, and all newly constructed logistics parks need to be connected to dedicated railway lines.
