The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Transport has introduced a new action plan aimed at continuously improving the business environment in the transportation sector.

The plan outlines five key areas of reform — market unification, business service improvements, administrative efficiency, convenience for foreigners and government-business collaboration.

The initiative comprises 30 major tasks and 67 specific measures designed to remove market barriers, enhance digital services and create a more seamless transportation experience for both businesses and individuals.

Here are the highlights:

Promoting transportation reform

Shanghai aims to boost its international transportation access by optimizing flight and shipping routes, further developing China-Europe freight train services and enhancing maritime arbitration and shipping insurance services.

The city is working to break down regional market barriers by integrating ship inspections across the Yangtze River Delta and expanding inland container terminal operations.

The plan is also emphasizing the use of technology and data in transportation, with projects like building a digital hub for maritime trade, upgrading Mobility-as-a-Service or MaaS platforms for passenger and freight transportation and expanding "one-code travel" solutions.

In addition, Shanghai is stepping up its efforts to expand electronic bills of lading, electronic cargo releases and multimodal transportation — especially air-rail intermodal transportation — assisting in forming the "key enterprises alliance for multimodal transportation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt".

Improving corporate services

To improve its efficiency for businesses, Shanghai is expanding its "one-stop services" model, incorporating tasks such as large cargo transportation approvals and subsidies for retiring old vessels.

The city is also introducing a "no application needed" system for certain licenses, such as road freight transportation permits (business continuity) and highway engineering supervision qualifications (change of business name).

Other digital initiatives include streamlining qualifications for passenger and freight transportation operators and enhancing online government services with virtual remote service windows and electronic road transportation permits.

Enhancing pro-business oversight

Shanghai is also introducing a smarter regulatory approach by fully integrating credit-based oversight across the transportation sector.

Digital monitoring will track heavy cargo and hazardous materials transportation to improve overall safety and efficiency.

The city will implement a graded, classified inspection system, and expand regional law enforcement collaboration within the Yangtze River Delta — as well as leverage big data, automated inspections, intelligent early warnings and remote monitoring — to conduct off-site inspections more efficiently.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Transport

Note: The English version of the action plan is for reference only; the official Chinese document shall prevail.