Promoting or Inhibiting? Influence of Railway Container Transportation on Regional Economic Development

In the context of building a country with a strong transportation network, railway container transportation (RCT) is an important means of reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and adjusting transportation structures. Thus, its impact on regional economic development is important. Based on data from railway container-handling stations and spatial econometric models, this study discusses the differences in the development of RCT and their impact on regional economic development at different leves. This study has three main findings: first, there are significant regional differences in the development of the RCT. The intra-regional differences between the eastern and central regions of China (which do not include Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) are gradually narrowing, while the regional differences in the western region are widening. Meanwhile, the intra-regional differences in important economic zones (such as Pearl River Delta Economic Zone (PRDEZ), Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone (CYEZ), Bohai Rim Economic Zone (BHEZ), and Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone (YRDEZ)) are narrowing daily. Second, the development differences of RCT in regional level and important economic regions level show different trends. The unbalanced features of large regions are increasingly evident, whereas the differences in economic regions are decreasing. However, the problem of overlapping RCT remains prominent. Third, the transformation of RCT development mode and fierce competition among transportation modes cause RCT to have a restraining effect on the regional economy at three levels. Rational allocation of resources and other means must be used to guide the transformation from inhibition to promotion, and by formulating targeted policies that will promote the development of RCT, which will improve the transportation structure and help construct a country with a strong transportation system.