TITLE:
Digital Empowerment and Geopolitical Adjustment: A New Path and Practical Innovation for High Quality Development of China Europe Railway Express
AUTHORS:
Dengheng Zheng, Zixuan Hu, Kuan Wang, Qi Liu, Zhengqian Pang, Huibing Cheng
KEYWORDS:
China Europe Railway Express, Digital Transformation, Geopolitical Risk, High Quality Development, Supply Chain Resilience
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.12 No.12,
December
3,
2025
ABSTRACT: As the core logistics carrier of the “the Belt and Road” initiative, China Europe Express has entered a critical period of quality improvement and efficiency optimization from the initial stage of channel construction. As of June 2025, its cumulative operating volume has exceeded 110,000 trains, with a cargo value of over 450 billion US dollars, covering more than 300 cities in over 40 countries on the Eurasian continent, becoming a “steel camel caravan” that stabilizes the global supply chain. However, multiple challenges such as barriers to entry caused by geopolitical games, inefficient coordination due to the digital divide, and resource depletion caused by regional competition have constrained the transformation of trains from “accumulation of quantity” to “leap of quality”. This article is based on the analysis framework of “digital empowerment-geopolitical adjustment”, and combines typical cases such as Shijiazhuang Land Port Multi Product Collection and Zhengzhou Digital Intelligence Innovation R&D Center to systematically explore the coupling path between digital transformation and geopolitical risk response. Research has found that the application of digital technology can improve the efficiency of train operations by more than 30% (e.g., Xi’an International Land Port has improved train operation efficiency by nearly 50% compared to the initial stage through digital scheduling), while multilateral coordination mechanisms can effectively reduce the clearance costs caused by geopolitical barriers; The coordinated promotion of the two is the key to solving traditional problems such as insufficient return goods, high transportation costs, and subsidy dependence. Finally, from the three dimensions of technological innovation, mechanism construction, and industrial integration, it is proposed to build a high-quality development system of “digital drive + geographical adaptation + industrial linkage”, providing theoretical support and practical reference for the sustainable operation of China Europe railway express and the interconnection of Asia Europe trade.