US Warned China’s LOGINK Could Become a Trade ‘Superweapon’. Then It Vanished[Change

Four years ago, the United States warned that China could turn a state-backed digital logistics platform into a powerful tool for gaining visibility into global trade.

That platform was LOGINK, a system designed to bring together logistics information from ports, customs authorities and transport companies and make cargo data easier to exchange digitally.

Instead of becoming a global force, however, LOGINK’s international ambitions have largely stalled.

A Reuters investigation found that the platform has lost key international partnerships, exited a global maritime data association and become entangled in a series of domestic legal disputes over unpaid bills. When a Reuters reporter visited LOGINK’s operations centre in Wenzhou in September, the facility appeared deserted, with the lights switched off, an empty reception area and computer cables removed.

LOGINK did not respond to calls or emails seeking comment, while China’s transport ministry declined to answer questions. In June, however, the ministry issued a policy document calling for LOGINK to be integrated with more domestic data sources.

The platform’s retreat represents a setback for Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence over the digital and physical infrastructure underpinning global shipping, an industry responsible for carrying around 80% of world trade.

The United States had been particularly concerned about LOGINK’s international expansion. Randall Schriver, who chaired a US congressional commission that examined the platform in 2022, said Washington helped change its fortunes by publicly identifying organisations using LOGINK.

US officials and security specialists had warned that the system could potentially provide access to information about cargo volumes, prices and traded goods, information that could benefit Chinese companies competing with Western firms.

There were also concerns that the platform could expose sensitive military logistics, including commercial shipments linked to US weapons deliveries to Ukraine and Taiwan.

LOGINK has never publicly detailed the full scope of the information it collected. In a 2024 submission to the US Trade Representative, LOGINK official Li Zhao rejected concerns that the platform had the ability to gather sensitive commercial information or continuously track global cargo movements.

A US State Department spokesperson said Washington would not allow a Beijing-controlled platform to gain what it called a “chokehold over global maritime data”.

FROM LOCAL PROJECT TO GLOBAL AMBITION

LOGINK, formally known as the National Transportation and Logistics Public Information Platform, began around two decades ago as a project in Zhejiang province.

Its initial purpose was straightforward: combine information from ports, trucking companies and logistics providers to improve the movement of goods.

The platform later gained backing from Beijing and was brought under China’s transport ministry, with international expansion becoming a key objective.

In 2010, China established a cargo data-sharing arrangement involving Japan and South Korea, connecting LOGINK with logistics information systems in both countries.

LOGINK later reached an agreement with a Hong Kong-based logistics platform that it said would provide access to more than 90% of global ship-tracking data.

A 2015 presentation by China’s transport ministry to a UN commission described LOGINK’s ambition as becoming a single portal linked to logistics information systems around the world.

By the late 2010s, the platform was also exploring partnerships with European ports.

That expansion came under increasing scrutiny in Washington.

In April 2022, LOGINK joined an international project designed to connect digital platforms involved in exchanging cargo and customs information. A US congressional report said the move could significantly increase LOGINK’s cooperation with ports around the world.

Several US lawmakers subsequently called for action against the Chinese platform. One of them was Marco Rubio, who is now US Secretary of State.

In an open letter to then-President Joe Biden, lawmakers warned that unchecked expansion could give the Chinese Communist Party significant influence over global trade routes.

In late 2023, then-Representative Michelle Steel separately urged the International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) to sever its relationship with LOGINK.

Congress also passed legislation preventing the Pentagon from contracting with LOGINK-linked entities and directed the US government to discourage allies and partners from using the platform.

However, officials in Japan and South Korea told Reuters that the data shared through their arrangements with LOGINK was considerably more limited than some US officials had feared.

South Korea’s oceans ministry and Japan’s transport ministry said the information included vessel arrival and departure times and cargo loading and unloading details, rather than the contents of individual shipments.

LOGINK’S INTERNATIONAL RETREAT

LOGINK’s global expansion subsequently began to unravel.

Its membership of IPCSA ended in 2024 after the Chinese platform stopped paying its dues, according to a person familiar with the matter. IPCSA later confirmed that LOGINK was no longer a member and said the international data-sharing project itself was on hold.

LOGINK’s website also went offline around the same period. The latest version available through the Wayback Machine dates from June 2024.

Its arrangement with Japan and South Korea has also effectively stalled.

The three countries had held regular meetings since the launch of the service, but China abruptly cancelled a meeting scheduled for March 2024, citing “internal circumstances”, according to South Korea’s oceans ministry. No further meetings have been held.

Japan subsequently lost access to LOGINK data without explanation. A Japanese transport ministry official told Reuters that access ended more than a year before August and that Tokyo had been unable to establish contact with its Chinese counterparts.

The platform’s attempts to establish itself in Europe produced little more.

Portugal’s Sines port signed an agreement with LOGINK in 2017 to explore data-sharing, but the arrangement produced no significant results, according to port authority spokesperson Ana Rita Rosa.

Portbase, the digital logistics system serving the Port of Rotterdam, also signed an agreement with LOGINK in 2019. The discussions never progressed beyond an exploratory stage.

A person familiar with the matter said questions from the Dutch government about the relationship in 2022 contributed to Portbase deciding against further cooperation.

Neither organisation commented on whether US pressure influenced those decisions.

LEGAL DISPUTES AND AN EMPTY OFFICE

While LOGINK’s international ambitions have faded, the platform has also encountered mounting difficulties at home.

The company operating its Wenzhou hub has faced at least 39 court cases since January 2024, involving claims worth roughly $1.3 million, according to corporate records reviewed by Reuters.

The disputes include labour claims and apparent cases involving unpaid utility bills.

Among the claimants is a subsidiary of China Mobile, which sued LOGINK in October 2025 over a contract dispute involving services. A court subsequently ordered LOGINK to make a payment, although the available records do not indicate whether the amount was paid.

The company also appears to be facing a property dispute. In May, a judge heard a case brought by the state-backed developer operating the industrial park where LOGINK is based. The dispute concerned the lease of the property.

When Reuters visited the Wenzhou facility in September, there was little indication that the platform was still operating from the site.

The building, located near a river on the outskirts of the city, appeared empty. Desks and chairs were covered in dust and there was no visible activity.

One striking reminder of LOGINK’s original ambition remained on the wall: a Communist Party slogan calling for China to “leverage global supply chains” by 2035.

For a platform once presented as a potential gateway to the world’s logistics data, its apparent retreat marks a dramatic reversal of fortunes.