On 8 May, representatives from the Suzhou Transport Bureau, the Transport Planning and Research Institute (TPRI) of the Ministry of Transport, and local logistics companies attended a working meeting with the Sino-German Cooperation on Decarbonising Freight Transport (CDFT) project team in Suzhou. They discussed how Suzhou’s policy and planning can support more sustainable urban freight practices, and explored the potential for cooperation with the city of Suzhou under the CDFT Project.
Key topics included the decarbonisation policies and measures of the city, the application of unmanned delivery to optimise last-mile logistics, and the experiences and challenges of integrating clean vehicle fleets into urban delivery operations. Both sides expressed strong interest in jointly conducting a decarbonising concept for urban freight. GIZ emphasised that the cooperation aims to identify and address the missing building blocks required to achieve full decarbonisation of urban freight, provide recommendations and analyse the effectiveness of policies and measures. This will include accompanying and evaluating the effectiveness of relevant policies and technical measures, with the support of both local stakeholders and international expertise.
On the following day, the CDFT team visited Zelos, a Suzhou-based technology company founded in 2021 that specialises in autonomous driving and delivery solutions. During the visit, the delegation observed a demonstration of Zelos’ unmanned delivery vehicles and explored their application scenarios in dense urban environments. The experience provided insights into how technological innovation can support decarbonisation of last-mile freight.
The CDFT team also visited an Intermodal Terminal at the Taicang Port, operated by the Suzhou Port & Shipping Group, to observe the integration of road, rail, and waterway transport modes at a key logistics hub in the Yangtze River Delta. Discussions with logistics operators and Bosch revealed a clear demand for solutions to current operational challenges such as the alignment of different modes, as well as the opportunities for improving efficiency and reducing emissions in intermodal freight transport.
The project team and TPRI jointly selected the corridor from Suzhou West Railway Station to Shanghai Luchao Port Railway Station (180 km), and onward to Yangshan Deepwater Port (60 km) to undertake a dedicated case study on:
- Shifting freight transport from road to rail and water,
- Advancing intermodal solutions such as rail–sea and inland waterway–sea combinations, and
- Promoting the deployment of zero-emission trucks for urban distribution and regional transport.
