Belt and Road Initiative: Trade Opportunities and Challenges for Intermodal Transport Stakeholders in Europe – The Role of Digitalization and Logistics 4.0

Economic development frameworks of the People´s Republic of China (PRC), such as the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) including the projects of New Silk Road (NSR) and Maritime Silk Road (MSR) are expected to boost the international trade facilitation. One of the prerequisites for sustainable improvement and high performance of the BRI initiative is closer connection between the PRC and the European Union (EU) based on information and communication support and policy cooperation. The objective of this article it is to provide a literature review supplemented by geographically scoped qualitative analysis of semi-structured in-depth interviews with actors in the Czech Republic. We elaborate the BRI impact on actions of intermodal transport chains stakeholders in the EU and question the disruption potential of BRI transport infrastructure projects on the current architecture of intermodal chains in the EU. The focus is on the landlocked European hinterland with an emphasis on digitalization and Logistics 4.0 related aspects and the NSR potential for this geographical scope.