Four years after US officials warned that China was preparing a digital "trade superweapon" capable of giving Beijing unprecedented visibility into global cargo movements, the Chinese logistics platform LOGINK has suffered a dramatic reversal. The state-backed system was designed to connect data from customs authorities, ports and third-party transport providers, allowing shipping information to be exchanged digitally and reducing reliance on paper-based processes. But its international expansion has stalled, its website has gone offline and its operations have become entangled in legal and financial disputes in China, according to a Reuters investigation based on interviews with more than 20 shipping industry insiders and officials and a review of court records. When Reuters visited LOGINK's operations hub in Wenzhou in September, the office appeared largely abandoned, with lights switched off, a bare reception area and computer cabling removed.

LOGINK, formally known as the National Transportation and Logistics Public Information Platform, began about two decades ago as a local government project in China's Zhejiang province. Its initial objective was to improve cargo coordination by bringing together information from ports, trucking companies and other logistics providers. The platform later received backing from Beijing and was transferred under the control of China's transport ministry, after which international expansion became a priority. China established data-sharing arrangements with Japan and South Korea in 2010, while later agreements sought to connect LOGINK with other international logistics systems. A 2015 Chinese transport ministry presentation described the ambition of creating a global logistics information portal. By the late 2010s, the platform was also exploring partnerships with European ports.

The platform's growing international ambitions attracted increasing scrutiny in Washington. US lawmakers and security officials argued that LOGINK could allow Beijing to obtain commercially sensitive information about cargo volumes, goods and prices and potentially provide visibility into sensitive shipments moving through civilian logistics networks. Concerns also extended to military cargo, including shipments connected to US support for Ukraine and Taiwan. LOGINK disputed those concerns. In a 2024 submission to the US Trade Representative's Office, a LOGINK official said the platform lacked the ability to collect sensitive commercial information or continuously monitor global cargo movements. Officials in Japan and South Korea also told Reuters that the data shared through their arrangements with LOGINK was more limited than some US officials had suggested, consisting primarily of information such as vessel arrival and departure times and cargo loading and unloading details.

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LOGINK's international retreat became increasingly apparent from 2024. Its membership in the International Port Community Systems Association ended after the platform stopped paying its dues, according to a person familiar with the matter, while the international data-sharing project associated with the organisation was subsequently put on hold. LOGINK's website also went offline around the same period. Its flagship cooperation with Japan and South Korea faltered as well. China cancelled a scheduled meeting in March 2024, citing internal circumstances, and no subsequent meetings have been held, according to South Korea's oceans ministry. Japan later lost access to LOGINK data and was unable to establish contact with Chinese counterparts. European initiatives produced little progress: Portugal's Sines port said a 2017 memorandum of understanding generated no significant results, while Portbase, the digital platform supporting the Port of Rotterdam, said its 2019 agreement remained at the exploratory stage.

The platform has also faced mounting legal problems inside China. The commercial entity operating LOGINK's Wenzhou hub has been the subject of at least 39 court claims since January 2024, with the claims collectively amounting to about $1.3 million, according to corporate and court records reviewed by Reuters. Some cases involved labour disputes, while others appeared to concern unpaid utilities. China Mobile's local subsidiary sued LOGINK in October 2025 over a service-provision contract dispute, and a court subsequently ordered LOGINK to pay the telecommunications company. The platform also appears to face an eviction dispute involving the state-backed developer of the industrial park where its Wenzhou operation is located. During Reuters' September visit, there was no visible activity at the building, despite a large Communist Party slogan on the premises promoting China's plans to leverage global supply chains by 2035.

The decline of LOGINK represents a setback for China's effort to expand its influence over the digital infrastructure underpinning global shipping, a sector responsible for carrying about 80% of world trade. Reuters could not establish precisely why the platform's international ambitions collapsed or how much of the reversal resulted from US pressure. The timing, however, coincided with a campaign by Washington to warn allies and international organisations about LOGINK and discourage its use. The US Congress also prohibited the Pentagon from entering contracts with LOGINK-connected entities and directed officials to discourage allies and partners from adopting the system. At the same time, China's transport ministry issued a policy document in June calling for LOGINK to be connected to more domestic data streams, suggesting that while its international ambitions have diminished sharply, the platform's underlying technology and data infrastructure may still have a role within China's domestic logistics system.

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