Shandong Port Group (SPG) and China Railway Jinan Group announced that they will work together to promote the high-quality development of Shandong's sea-rail combined transport, according to a guideline issued at a conference held in the coastal city of Qingdao on Oct 17 .

"The development of sea-rail combined transport is of great importance in reducing environmental pollution and safety incidents, cutting China's energy consumption costs per unit, and relieving traffic," an official from the China Railway Jinan Group said at the conference. The official also put forward five concrete measures, including opening more sea-rail combined freight trains, optimizing the construction of railway stations at sea ports, and offering support to inland port construction.

During the conference, SPG introduced 10 commitments to its consumers, such as optimizing container transshipment procedures, reducing logistics costs for sea-rail combined transport, improving the efficiency of its services, and cutting down the time for customs inspection and clearance, as well as launching a more efficient mode for synergy between ports and railways.

On Sept 17, the National Development and Reform Commission and the China State Railway Group jointly unveiled implementation plans to improve infrastructure connectivity of container sea-rail combined transport, further clarifying policy measures to support the development of sea-rail combined transport.

SPG and China Railway Jinan Group will continue to expand the hinterland market along the railway, smooth circulation channels, extend service chains, improve service, and launch premium container freight trains, which will ensure the steady growth of the railway business and make all-out efforts to stabilize industrial and supply chains.

Moving ahead, SPG will partner with China Railway Jinan Group to fully harness each other's comparative advantages and collectively improve the service capacity and service quality of sea-rail combined transport. Together, they will forge a convenient, quality, efficient and low-cost logistics channel for shipping companies and import and export enterprises, as part of their efforts to make contributions to building the country into a strong power of transportation, and developing Shandong into a province with strong transportation.

SPG and China Railway Jinan Group announces that they will work together to promote the high-quality development of Shandong's sea-rail combined transport. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]