China's Ministry of Transport Launches AI+Transport Action Plan: Where Are the Opportunities for Freight Forwarders?

On August 20, China's Ministry of Transport announced the "AI + Transport" Typical Application Scenario Innovation Action Plan, with the first batch of 41 key scenarios covering 10 directions including intelligent driving, smart highways, intelligent railways, smart civil aviation, smart postal services and intelligent multimodal transport. For freight forwarders and logistics companies, this plan is a clear industry signal: AI adoption is shifting from an optional company initiative to an industry-wide direction. This article explains the plan's key points, three direct opportunities for forwarders, and three steps they can take now.

Body

1. The Plan: 10 Directions, 41 Scenarios, 2030 Vision

The headline: on August 20, the Ministry of Transport held a press conference introducing the "AI + Transport" Typical Application Scenario Innovation Action Plan, with three core goals — turning macro policy into practice, bridging the gap between technology and industry demand, and using AI to fill industry shortcomings, aiming to create new infrastructure, equipment, service models and industry forms by 2030.

Key data: the Ministry has mapped 860 breakthrough scenarios across rail, road, water, aviation and postal services; the first comprehensive transport large-model agent innovation competition produced over 100 typical agent achievements; a transport large-model innovation and industry alliance (55 leading companies, AI firms and universities) was formed to build a "1+N+X" comprehensive transport large-model system. The first batch covers 41 key scenario building guidelines across 10 directions, with three scenario types: application promotion, innovation demonstration and key research breakthroughs.

Supporting actions: a "100 Data Battle" innovation action with the National Data Administration to build an industry data resource map within 3-5 years; and an "AI + Transport" Application Safety Guideline with six governance principles including inclusive prudence, risk orientation and agile governance.

2. Three Direct Opportunities for Freight Forwarders

① Intelligent multimodal transport is a policy-named scenario. The 10 directions explicitly include "intelligent multimodal transport," which is the forwarder's home turf. The multimodal scheduling and end-to-end visibility the policy encourages are exactly what forwarders can build now — on the policy wave, with the option to apply for inclusion in the innovation achievement library for promotion support.

② Data assets start to matter. The "100 Data Battle" action means industry data will be connected. The rate, transit-time and customer-preference data forwarders accumulate will become not just internal assets but scarce resources for connecting to industry large models — the cleaner the data, the more valuable.

③ Agent applications are an inclusive dividend. The action emphasizes open, inclusive principles with no quota limits and no rankings: projects meeting "advanced and mature technology, real application scenarios, industry promotion value" can enter the library and receive policy guidance, standard services and promotion support — an official endorsement channel for forwarders to apply for AI projects.

3. Three Steps Forwarders Can Take Now

① Run one real scenario first. Pick one high-frequency repetitive link — quoting, documentation, customer service, daily reports — and run AI through it to build a case. This is exactly what the policy wants: "real application scenarios." ② Clean up your data. Structure rate records, route transit times and customer tags; data quality is the prerequisite whether you later connect to an industry large model or build your own knowledge base. ③ Watch the application window. Forwarders with existing AI projects can self-check against the three standards — advanced mature technology, real scenarios, industry promotion value — and apply for library entry to get policy endorsement.

FAQ

Q: Is this action plan mandatory for freight forwarders?

A: No, it's guiding, not mandatory. The plan is open and inclusive with no quotas and no rankings; forwarders voluntarily apply projects for library entry, receiving policy guidance, standard services and promotion support. But it is a clear signal: AI adoption is moving from optional to industry direction.

Q: Which scenario should a forwarder start with?

A: Start with high-frequency repetitive links: quoting, documentation, customer service, daily reports. Among the policy's 10 directions, "intelligent multimodal transport" is most relevant to forwarders — run one real scenario first to build a case, then expand.

Q: Can forwarder data assets be monetized now?

A: Not directly short-term, but the "100 Data Battle" action will connect industry data; structured rate, transit-time and customer-preference data may connect to industry large models in the future. Cleaning up data now is occupying a position early.

About Shanghai Naili Information Technology Co., Ltd.

Shanghai Naili Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Naili AI Logistics Lab) has focused on digital marketing for freight forwarders for 10 years — full-service marketing managed operations including AI adoption, GEO optimization and website transformation. We help forwarders build AI quote assistants, customer service agents, AI daily reports and sales AI, all designed around real business scenarios.