Beijing pushes hard for 'one belt, one road': the story behind one of the key projects.

Byline: Gordon Feller

In an effort to transform her home economy and remake her sphere of influence, China is mobilizing vast resources from public budgets and private enterprises for the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) program. Official numbers cited in Beijing put the price tag at nearly a trillion US dollars, and some Western analysts are expecting that number to rise.

What is OBOR? The official pronouncements are numerous, but the best way to see OBOR is in the field, where the vast sums of money are being spent. OBOR leaders have decided that Hubei, the region hosting the Three Gorges Dam, must create Public-Private Partnerships to improve critical facilities providing logistics services. These offer vital links in the chain that make multimodal freight transportation more efficient.

Baiyang Port and Logistics Park (BPLP) secured US$446 million of new funds from public and private sources, including a US200 million World Bank loan. BPLP's site is removed from the main urban transport corridors, and hence does not add to city congestion and air pollution. But it is close enough to serve Yichang's urban freight logistics demand.

BPLP connects to key transport modes, including the national expressway system; the nearby Ziyun Railway Marshalling Yard; and the Three Gorges Airport. The success of such logistic parks has always been determined, in part, by how efficiently they connect to multimodal transport systems.

BPLP's Baiyang Port will serve containers, bulk cargo, general cargo, liquid bulk, and roll on-roll off' trucks. BPLP's Logistics Park will be used to process shipments for equipment, building material, food industry, steel and city distribution.

The emergence of new manufacturing zones, located far from the major consumption centers and major export-focused ports, led to an increased emphasis on freight movement. Efficient freight movement becomes critical to any efforts aimed at ensuring that the government's new consumption-based economic growth model delivers on the promise.

Freight that's moved long distances will need to use more sustainable transport modes in order to reduce the adverse environmental impacts associated with freight transportation, especially air pollution and carbon emissions. Yet, for long distance freight transport, the more cost effective and environmental friendly modes, namely inland water transport (IWT) and rail, have been underutilized. This was due to lack of mode connectivity and to a lack of...