China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has announced that by the end of September this year freight transportation at coal ports in Shandong Province and in the Yangze River Delta region will be converted from road transport to railway transport, aiming to lower air pollution as the high percentage of road transport is regarded as the one of main factors contributing to air pollution. By the end of 2019, iron ore, steel and coke transportation at ports in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangze River Delta region will be converted from road transport to railway transport.
China Railway Corporation (CRC) has already started preparations for increased rail freight volumes at 15 ports in Bohai Coastal Region and Shandong Province. CRC has stated that by the end of 2020 annual rail freight volumes in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will increase from the current 800 million mt to one billion mt.