Logistics, often perceived as mere transportation and storage, has gained unprecedented strategic importance in China's latest Five-Year Plan, mentioned seven times in the document. This reflects a profound shift: logistics is evolving from supporting infrastructure into a central nervous system driving high-quality development.
On December 24 last year, the first phase of the Zhoukou Port Central Terminal commenced operations. Equipped with 13 automated 2,000-ton-class container berths, it boasts an annual handling capacity of 1.075 million TEUs, ranking among China's top ten inland river ports. Adjacent to the Sha-Ying River, which was once dormant, the port now benefits from upgraded waterway conditions allowing 3,000-ton vessels direct access to the Yangtze River and onward to three sea outlets. With 43 container routes opened, Zhoukou has become Henan's largest inland port.
The new terminal is both smart and green. Current solar power generation meets part of its electricity needs, and future wind power integration will make it Henan's first zero-carbon port, boosting worker morale.
Why does inland Zhoukou seek sea access? As a major agricultural city with a weak industrial base, particularly in heavy industry, Zhoukou has pursued development through its port. The western terminal area has seen rapid growth, with handling volume surpassing 55 million tons in 2025, nearly tripling in five years and accounting for 80% of provincial port throughput. The newly built eastern terminal further expands capacity.
In May last year, Zhoukou Port was listed as a "Port-Type National Logistics Hub." This upgrade signifies three fundamental transitions: from a local transport node to a national corridor connector integrating into a unified market; from basic port operations to value-creating hub economics; and from an inland location to an open coastal gateway, establishing a new maritime route for central and western regions.
National Logistics Hubs are key nodes in China's logistics network, serving as resource allocation and activity coordination centers. Their missions include reducing nationwide logistics costs, enhancing supply chain stability and competitiveness, promoting regional coordination and industrial clustering, and supporting the dual-circulation development pattern. Among the six hub types, Zhoukou represents the port category, crucial for opening inland regions and fostering regional economic synergy.
The new Five-Year Plan emphasizes building an efficient modern circulation system and improving the national logistics hub network to lower logistics costs. As a hub city, Zhoukou actively implements this strategy. Water transport, costing one-third of rail and one-fifth of road transport, attracts leading enterprises. For instance, Yihai Kerry (Zhoukou) Modern Food Industrial Park, a 20-billion-yuan project near the port, built a dedicated terminal to minimize logistics costs. Materials like soybeans and corn are directly unloaded via suction systems and transported through 2km enclosed pipelines to the plant, drastically improving efficiency and competitiveness.
This logistics advantage has drawn industry leaders like Wahaha, Luhua, and Anyang Iron and Steel to Zhoukou, fostering clusters in food processing, biomedicine, equipment manufacturing, and modern logistics. The once industrially weak city now thrives on its hub appeal.
While a single hub significantly impacts regional economy, what about multiple hubs? Consider Nanjing, one of only three cities in China with five hub types: land port, airport, seaport, production service, and commerce service. This "Five-Type Hub" status attracts robust companies like SAIC Maxus. Its Nanjing plant, the first "Lighthouse Factory" in China's auto industry, exemplifies flexible production, where a single line customizes vehicles to client needs. Producing a commercial vehicle requires over 1,200 parts from hundreds of suppliers, demanding seamless integration of smart manufacturing and logistics.
Externally, Nanjing's multi-hub system ensures smooth inbound and outbound cargo flow via land, water, and air. Internally, logistics and manufacturing are deeply coupled, with materials arriving just as production lines need them, avoiding both stockpiles and shortages. This year's government work report for the first time classified logistics as a producer service, signaling its transition from traditional "mover" to "supply chain service provider," embedded in production and circulation processes.
Nanjing now leverages its hub strengths to develop industrial clusters in AI, robotics, biomedicine, and next-gen ICT, shifting from transport-cost-dependent corridor economy to high-value service-oriented hub economy.
By 2025, China had established 229 national logistics hubs across 152 cities, covering major economic zones with GDP over 400 billion yuan. This network integrates key growth poles into an efficient logistics framework. As modern circulation systems advance under the Five-Year Plan, these hubs will inject stronger momentum into high-quality development.
From Zhoukou to Nanjing, from inland rivers to the Yangtze, China's economic circulation is undergoing systemic upgrades. This is not just a logistics boom but a demonstration of economic resilience, potential, and direction. The nation's economic pulse beats strongly within a more efficient, smart, and interconnected logistics network, heralding a new era of hub and corridor economics that accelerates the new development pattern and high-quality growth.
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