An Analysis of the Significant Value and Significance of Lanzhou Hub for “Full-Load Outbound, Empty-Return” Containers of China-Europe Railway Express

The China-Europe Railway Express serves as a vital logistics corridor within the Belt and Road Initiative, yet it currently faces an imbalance where outbound trains operate fully loaded while return trips run empty or partially loaded. Analysis of the causes behind the empty container issue and its impact on operational costs, capacity utilization efficiency, and resource turnover reveals that trade imbalances create significant disparities in cargo volumes between outbound and return trips. Additionally, traditional point-to-point transportation fails to effectively resolve the return of empty containers. As a land port-type national logistics hub, Lanzhou can transform the cost of empty return containers into regional logistics network resources through a solution combining “a coordinated collection, distribution, transfer, and utilization system + multimodal transshipment + intelligent dispatch matching.” Practically speaking, the Lanzhou hub can demonstrate its characteristic functions and competitiveness by reducing regional industrial and corporate logistics costs, enhancing container circulation efficiency and network resilience, and promoting industrial and hub economic development in Northwest China. Compared to other hubs, Lanzhou's “cross-shaped” railway network offers flexible adaptability to distribution structures and dual functionality of “network consolidation + regional distribution,” providing a feasible solution for achieving balanced and sustainable development of the China-Europe Railway Express.