Promoting or Inhibiting?Influence of Railway Container Transportation on Regional Economic Development

In the context of building a country with a strong transportation network,railway container transportation(RCT)is an import-ant means of reducing costs,increasing efficiency,and adjusting transportation structures.Thus,its impact on regional economic devel-opment is important.Based on data from railway container-handling stations and spatial econometric models,this study discusses the differences in the development of RCT and their impact on regional economic development at different leves.This study has three main findings:first,there are significant regional differences in the development of the RCT.The intra-regional differences between the east-ern and central regions of China(which do not include Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan)are gradually narrowing,while the regional dif-ferences in the western region are widening.Meanwhile,the intra-regional differences in important economic zones such as Pearl River Delta Economic Zone(PRDEZ),Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone(CYEZ),Bohai Rim Economic Zone(BHEZ),and Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone(YRDEZ)are narrowing daily.Second,the development differences of RCT in regional level and import-ant economic regions level show different trends.The unbalanced features of large regions are increasingly evident,whereas the differ-ences in economic regions are decreasing.However,the problem of overlapping RCT remains prominent.Third,the transformation of RCT development mode and fierce competition among transportation modes cause RCT to have a restraining effect on the regional eco-nomy at three levels.Rational allocation of resources and other means must be used to guide the transformation from inhibition to pro-motion,and by formulating targeted policies that will promote the development of RCT,which will improve the transportation structure and help construct a country with a strong transportation system.