15th Five-Year Plan Outlines Modern Logistics; 2025 Total Logistics Value RMB 368.2 Trillion, Cost Ratio 13.9%
China's 15th Five-Year Plan calls for a modern logistics system, with the total value of social logistics reaching RMB 368.2 trillion in 2025 and the ratio of logistics costs to GDP falling to 13.9%. The plan integrates logistics into a broader infrastructure framework, with 181 national logistics hubs and 105 cold-chain bases built. Over 80% of counties are covered by the national transport corridor network. The report also highlights challenges such as limited strategic channels and digitalization gaps.
The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines measures to promote high-standard connectivity of market facilities, proposing to establish an efficient and smooth modern logistics system and improve the national logistics hub network. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in April 2026 called for strengthened planning and construction of water networks, new power grids, computing power networks, next-generation communication networks, urban underground pipeline networks, and logistics networks. The logistics network is included in the overall six-networks construction plan, aiming to provide physical flow support and application scenarios for the other five networks.
As of end-2025, the completion rate of the main framework of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transport network—the six axes, seven corridors, and eight channels—reached 91%, covering over 80% of counties. Railway operating mileage was about 165,000 kilometers, of which high-speed rail exceeded 50,000 kilometers, covering 97% of cities with an urban population of over 500,000. Highway mileage was about 5.58 million kilometers, including 199,400 kilometers of expressways. Navigable inland waterways reached 128,700 kilometers, and there were 5,488 scheduled civil aviation routes.
The country has built a total of 181 national logistics hubs, 105 national backbone cold-chain logistics bases, and over 2,700 logistics parks above designated size. Leveraging 100 national comprehensive transport hub cities, the plan supports the formation of 63 rail-water intermodal hubs, 76 road-rail intermodal hubs, and 43 road-air intermodal hubs, directly serving more than 240 national-level industrial parks and clusters.
In 2025, China's total social logistics value reached RMB 368.2 trillion, with an average annual growth rate of 5.7% during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. An average of 160 million tons of goods flowed on transport lines daily, with up to 8,437 parcels collected per second. The number of cargo aircraft grew from 186 at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan to 290. The China-Europe (Asia) rail express exceeded 3.17 million TEUs in annual volume, and the Western Land-Sea Corridor rail express exceeded 1.42 million TEUs. The average end-to-end delivery time for express services dropped from 58.23 hours at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan to 51.22 hours in 2025. The ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP fell to 13.9% in 2025.
China has built a total of 60 automated and semi-automated terminals. Intelligent equipment such as driverless trucks and automated guided vehicles are being deployed at scale in major ports nationwide. Over 7,800 kilometers of expressways have undergone digital and intelligent upgrades, and more than 19,000 kilometers of electronic waterway charts have been released.
Some strategic corridors are under capacity strain, with central and western regions having relatively single external access routes, and international logistics channels overly relying on eastern coastal ports. The single-document system for multimodal transport is only promoted among some enterprises and typical routes. Digital transformation of logistics infrastructure lags, with a lack of information interconnection between logistics parks, warehousing facilities, and transport vehicles.
The United States has released its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026-2030 and 2026 National Freight Strategic Plan, focusing on six objectives of safety, efficiency, assurance capability, resilience, innovation, and workforce, coordinating all transport modes including highways, railways, waterways, aviation, and pipelines. The European Union has issued the Land and Multimodal Transport National Aid Guidelines and the Transport Block Exemption Regulation, extending their scope to railways, inland waterway shipping, and sustainable multimodal transport across all fields.