Date: October 5, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
A Chinese government-backed logistics data platform once described by U.S. officials as a potential “trade superweapon” has dramatically retreated from the international stage, with its overseas partnerships stalled, its website offline and its operations hub in China appearing largely abandoned, according to a Reuters investigation.
The platform, known as LOGINK, was designed to connect information from customs authorities, ports, trucking companies and other logistics providers in an effort to make global shipping more efficient. Its development raised concerns in Washington that the system could give Beijing access to valuable information about international cargo movements and potentially strengthen China's position in global trade.
Reuters reported that LOGINK's international expansion has instead suffered a major reversal. Its participation in an international maritime data-sharing association ended, cooperation with Japan and South Korea has faltered, and efforts to develop partnerships with European ports produced little lasting activity. The platform has also become involved in domestic legal disputes in China over unpaid bills and other claims.
When Reuters visited LOGINK's operations hub in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou in September, the office appeared deserted, with its lights switched off, an empty reception area and computer cables removed. Reuters said calls and emails to LOGINK went unanswered, while China's transport ministry declined to answer questions about the platform.
LOGINK, formally known as the National Transportation and Logistics Public Information Platform, began about two decades ago as a project in China's Zhejiang province. Its original purpose was to improve coordination of cargo movements by bringing information from different parts of the logistics industry into a searchable digital system.
The project subsequently received support from Beijing and came under the control of China's transport ministry. International expansion became an important part of its development, with China establishing data-sharing arrangements involving Japan and South Korea in 2010.
LOGINK later entered discussions and agreements with other international logistics organizations. A Hong Kong-based platform said a partnership with LOGINK could provide access to more than 90 per cent of global ship-tracking data. A 2015 presentation by China's transport ministry described LOGINK as a planned one-stop portal connected to logistics information systems around the world.
The platform attracted increased attention in Washington in 2022, when U.S. officials and lawmakers began warning that its expansion could create national-security and economic risks.
American officials and security experts expressed concern that LOGINK could potentially provide access to information about traded goods, shipping volumes and pricing. Some also feared that information gathered through commercial shipping networks could reveal sensitive movements of military equipment, including U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine and Taiwan.
The United States subsequently pressured allies and international organizations to reconsider cooperation with the Chinese platform. Congress also prohibited the Pentagon from entering into contracts with LOGINK-connected entities and directed U.S. officials to discourage allies and partners from using it.
However, the extent of the information actually available through LOGINK appears to have been more limited than some U.S. officials feared.
Officials in Japan and South Korea who worked with the platform told Reuters that the information shared through their arrangements was largely limited to vessel arrival and departure times and information about cargo loading and unloading. They said detailed information about the contents of shipments was not made available.
LOGINK itself has also disputed concerns about its ability to collect sensitive commercial information. In a 2024 submission to the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, LOGINK official Li Zhao said the platform lacked the capacity to collect sensitive commercial information or continuously monitor global cargo movements.
The platform nevertheless began withdrawing from international cooperation.
LOGINK's participation in the International Port Community Systems Association ended in 2024 after it stopped paying membership dues, according to a person familiar with the matter. The international data-sharing initiative associated with the organization subsequently remained inactive.
Its website also went offline around the same period. Reuters said the most recent version available through the Internet Archive dates from June 2024.
China's cooperation with Japan and South Korea also deteriorated. The three countries had held regular meetings following the launch of their logistics data-sharing service, but China abruptly cancelled a meeting scheduled for March 2024, citing “internal circumstances,” according to South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. No subsequent meetings have taken place.
A Japanese transport ministry official told Reuters that Tokyo later lost access to LOGINK data without warning and was unable to contact Chinese counterparts. The official said Japan had lost access more than a year before the official spoke to Reuters in August.
LOGINK's efforts to expand in Europe were similarly unsuccessful. Portugal's Sines port authority said a 2017 memorandum of understanding with LOGINK to explore data-sharing produced no significant results. Portbase, the digital system serving the Port of Rotterdam, said a 2019 agreement with LOGINK never progressed beyond exploratory discussions.
The platform's difficulties have also extended into China's domestic business environment.
According to Chinese corporate and court records reviewed by Reuters, the commercial entity operating LOGINK's Wenzhou hub has faced at least 39 court claims since January 2024, involving approximately $1.3 million. The claims include labour disputes and cases involving unpaid utilities.
One claimant was a local subsidiary of China Mobile, which sued LOGINK in October 2025 over a contract dispute involving service provision. A court subsequently ordered LOGINK to pay the telecommunications company, although the available filings did not establish whether payment was ultimately made.
LOGINK also appears to be involved in an eviction dispute involving the state-backed developer operating the industrial park where its Wenzhou facility is located.
The condition of the Wenzhou office observed by Reuters has added to questions about the future of the platform. Although the office appeared inactive, China's transport ministry issued a policy document in June calling for LOGINK to be connected to additional domestic data streams, suggesting that the system may still have a role within China's internal logistics strategy even as its international ambitions have diminished.
The retreat represents a setback for China's efforts to increase its influence over the digital infrastructure supporting global shipping. Maritime transport carries the vast majority of international trade, making control and access to logistics data an increasingly important component of economic and strategic competition.
For Washington, LOGINK's decline is likely to be viewed as evidence that pressure on international partners can limit the overseas expansion of Chinese technology platforms considered strategically sensitive. Randall Schriver, who chaired a U.S. congressional commission that examined LOGINK in 2022, said American efforts to expose concerns surrounding the platform contributed to its reversal.
However, Reuters said it could not establish a definitive reason for LOGINK's abrupt retreat or determine how much of the change resulted from U.S. pressure, internal Chinese decisions or the platform's own financial and operational problems.
The story therefore leaves an important question unresolved: whether LOGINK has effectively collapsed as an international project or is instead being redirected toward domestic use inside China.
What is clear is that the ambitious global expansion envisioned for the platform has not materialized. A system once promoted as a way to modernize international logistics and potentially give China a powerful position in global maritime data has instead seen its international partnerships disappear, its operations come under financial pressure and its visible footprint shrink dramatically.