In the logistics sector, many people perceive it simply as transportation and warehousing. However, the recently released "15th Five-Year Plan" outline mentions logistics seven times, highlighting its exceptional importance. This figure reflects a profound strategic shift: logistics is evolving from supporting the实体经济's framework to becoming the "nerve center" driving high-quality development.
On December 24 last year, the first phase of the central operation area of Zhoukou Port's central port area officially commenced operations. It boasts 13 automated container berths capable of handling 2,000-ton vessels, with an annual throughput capacity of 1.075 million TEUs. With this robust capability, Zhoukou Port ranks among the top ten inland river ports in China. Adjacent to the Sha Ying River, which was once suspended, the port now benefits from upgraded provincial waterways from class IV to class III, allowing 3,000-ton ships direct access to the Yangtze River and subsequently to the sea via three outlets. To date, 43 domestic and international container routes have been established, making Zhoukou Port the largest inland river port in Henan Province.
The new port area is not only intelligent but also green. Currently, photovoltaic power generation partially meets its electricity needs, and future integration with wind power will enable the port area to become entirely self-sufficient, establishing it as Henan's first zero-carbon terminal. Employees at this modern port are highly motivated.
Why would Zhoukou, located deep inland, seek to establish a sea access channel? Wei Surong, Deputy Director of the Zhoukou Development and Reform Commission, explained: "Zhoukou is a major agricultural city with a relatively weak industrial base, particularly in heavy industry." To foster better development, the Zhoukou Central Port planned and constructed eastern and western operation areas. In recent years, the western area has experienced rapid growth, with throughput exceeding 55 million tons in 2025, nearly doubling over five years and accounting for about 80% of the province's total port cargo throughput. To support further expansion, a new operation area was built in the east.
In May last year, Zhoukou Port was included in the list for developing a "Port-type National Logistics Hub." What does this upgrade signify? Wei Surong stated: "This upgrade achieves three fundamental transformations: first, from serving as a local transportation node to becoming a network core that connects national corridors and integrates into a unified large market; second, from a simple dock economy focused on loading and unloading to a hub economy that aggregates industries and creates value; third, from an inland hinterland to an open frontier with river and sea access, establishing a new sea channel for central and western regions."
National Logistics Hubs are critical nodes in China's logistics infrastructure network, serving as essential centers for logistics resource allocation and activity organization. Their primary tasks include reducing overall social logistics costs, enhancing supply chain stability and competitiveness, promoting regional coordination and industrial agglomeration, and supporting the new "dual circulation" development pattern. There are six types of National Logistics Hubs, with Zhoukou Port classified as a port-type hub. Therefore, it not only functions as a major terminal for cargo throughput but also plays a vital role in promoting openness in inland areas and facilitating regional economic synergy.
The latest "15th Five-Year Plan" outline emphasizes the need to "improve an efficient and smooth modern circulation system, enhance the national logistics hub network," and "reduce overall social logistics costs." As a bearer city for a port-type National Logistics Hub, Zhoukou is actively implementing this national strategy and integrating into the national logistics hub network. Given that water transport costs are one-third of rail and one-fifth of road transport, this advantage has attracted leading enterprises. For instance, Yihai Kerry (Zhoukou) Modern Food Industrial Park, a large enterprise developed adjacent to the port, invested over 20 billion yuan. To minimize logistics costs, the company obtained government permission to build a dedicated terminal beside Zhoukou Port. After cargo ships dock, suction equipment transfers raw materials like soybeans and corn directly to the plant via nearly 2-kilometer enclosed pipelines for processing. This approach significantly boosts logistics efficiency, reduces costs, and enhances corporate competitiveness.
The benefits of logistics have also drawn leading companies from various sectors, such as Wahaha, Luhua, and Anyang Iron and Steel, to Zhoukou. Driven by these enterprises, Zhoukou has formed four leading industrial clusters: food processing, biomedicine, equipment manufacturing, and modern logistics. Once industrially weak, Zhoukou is now steadily growing through the "gravitational field" of its logistics hub.
Zhoukou's story demonstrates the significant impact a National Logistics Hub can have on regional economies. What happens when a city possesses multiple types of hubs? Shifting focus to Nanjing, which integrates five types of hubs—land port, airport, seaport, production service, and commerce service—it is known as a "five-type hub" city. Only three such multifaceted cities exist nationwide, attracting robust enterprises like SAIC Maxus to establish operations in Nanjing.
SAIC Maxus's Nanjing plant is the first "lighthouse factory" among Chinese automakers. Upon entering the workshop, one immediately senses the intense yet orderly production pace. Flexible production allows the same assembly line to customize products based on client needs. Here, producing a single commercial vehicle requires at least 1,200 components from hundreds of suppliers, necessitating both smart manufacturing and smart logistics, which demand extremely high coordination.
Externally, the company leverages Nanjing's "five-type hub" logistics advantages, utilizing water, land, and air channels to ensure smooth inbound and outbound cargo flow. Internally, logistics and manufacturing processes are deeply integrated; materials arrive just as they are needed on the production line, avoiding both stockpiles and shortages, achieving perfect synchronization.
This year's government work report for the first time classified logistics as a producer service industry, essentially describing it as providing supporting services for enterprises. This marks a transition for logistics firms from traditional "movers" to "supply chain service providers," deeply embedded in the entire production and circulation process, creating a new ecosystem of interdependence.
Currently, Nanjing is capitalizing on its "five-type hub" strengths to develop various industrial clusters, promote regional economic transformation, and support high-quality development in the Yangtze River Delta. Jia Shangbin, Deputy Director of the Nanjing Development and Reform Commission, stated: "Our city is focusing on developing advanced manufacturing clusters such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biomedicine, and new-generation information and communication technologies, driving the transformation of our industrial chain from a corridor economy reliant on transport costs to a hub economy centered on high-value-added services."
By 2025, 229 National Logistics Hubs have been established across 152 bearer cities, covering the "four horizontal and five vertical, two coastal and ten corridor" logistics network, effectively reaching or radiating to cities with GDP exceeding 400 billion yuan. This means major economic growth poles nationwide are integrated into this efficient logistics network.
With the deepening development of the modern circulation system under the "15th Five-Year Plan," these hub nodes scattered across China will inject stronger momentum into the nation's high-quality economic development. From Zhoukou to Nanjing, from inland rivers to the Yangtze, China's economic bloodstream is undergoing systematic upgrades. This is not merely a strong start for the logistics industry but a concentrated display of the resilience, potential, and direction of China's economic development. The pulse of China's economy beats strongly within a more efficient, intelligent, and interconnected logistics network. It is foreseeable that a new logistics era characterized by "hub economy" and "corridor economy" is dawning, accelerating the construction of a new development pattern and driving high-quality growth.