APL's president for North Asia, Ken Glenn, says that expansion of rail freight services will attract increased investment to Western and Central China - both of which are low-cost manufacturing regions.
APL pioneered intermodal rail transport for containerised cargo in the US during the 1980s, and in 2007, sister company APL Logistics introduced IndiaLinx - India's first private freight rail system. Since then it has also established intermodal rail service in Egypt.
Historically, most Chinese exports have been produced in the country's coastal areas. But Glenn said manufacturers will increasingly move West as capacity, frequency and the quality of rail connections between the interior and China's seaports improve.
He added that APL will look for opportunities to connect China's interior with the coastal regions.
Glenn pointed out that China has some of the world's largest and most productive seaports, and intermodal rail has the most potential to address the long-distance logistics and transportation needs of the country's export manufacturers.
