Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on foreign trade intermodal transport accessibility: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta region of mainland China.

We address the problem of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on foreign trade transport by introducing a foreign trade intermodal transport accessibility (FTITA) index. First, we present the definition of FTITA, which combines the convenience of transporting domestic cargoes to overseas regions by an international intermodal transport network and the trade attractiveness of the domestic cargoes in the overseas regions. Second, we analyze the path choice behaviors of domestic shippers and propose the measurement method of the FTITA index. Finally, using the 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region in mainland China as origins and eight overseas regions as destinations, we empirically analyze the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the FTITA. With the empirical study conducted in the prepandemic and postpandemic years, we analyzed the overall trends of the FTITAs from the YRD region to eight overseas regions, spatial patterns of the distributions of the FTITAs in the YRD region, rankings of average FTITA values for the top ten cities in the YRD region, and the FTITAs for different cargoes. The results indicate that the FTITAs of the YRD region in the prepandemic year are significantly higher than those in the postpandemic year. Moreover, in both the prepandemic and postpandemic years, the FTITAs to North America, Japan/South Korea, Europe, and Southeast Asia are significantly higher than those to Oceania, Middle East, South America, and Africa. Through analysis of the spatial patterns of the FTITAs across cities in the YRD region, we find that the cities with high FTITA are mainly close to Shanghai Port and Ningbo Port; the cities with middle-high FTITA are mainly located in southern Zhejiang and the regions along the Yangtze River; the cities with middle-low FTITA are mainly located in northern Jiangsu; and the cities with low FTITA are located in northern Anhui. Furthermore, comparing the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the FTITAs for different cargoes, we observe that COVID-19 has the least impact on foodstuffs and event cargoes. Our findings can guide decision makers in implementing policies for alleviating the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on foreign trade transport and further promoting the sustainable development of port and shipping industries.