Recently, a cross-Faculty team from the University of Liverpool visited China and Laos to strengthen research collaborations among scholars working on transport-related themes.
Dr Chia-Lin Chen and Professor Dani Arribas-Bel, from the Department of Geography and Planning, and Professor Tolga Bektas, from the Management School, travelled to four Chinese cities, concluding with a cross-border journey via the China-Laos Railway to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
The visit began with an official meeting at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) in Beijing on 16 May 2025, where the team was hosted by research collaborators Professor Jie Huang and Professor Jiaoe Wang, Executive Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modelling, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
As part of the visit, Professor Dani Arribas-Bel delivered a lecture titled "Making Satellite Imagery More Useful, Usable, and Used in Social Science and Policymaking," introducing the newly funded ESRC project Data Science for Imagery - IMAGO.
The delegation then travelled to Wuhu to participate in the Third International Symposium on Transport Geography which brought together around 100 scholars, including early-career researchers from the US, Canada, UK, and China.
Organised by Professors Huang and Wang and hosted by Anhui Normal University, the symposium continues a series launched in 2023, with previous editions held in Dalian and Guangzhou.
Dr Chia-Lin Chen (pictured below), Chair of the International Geographical Union's Transport and Geography Commission, delivered a keynote titled "Rethinking Public Transport Systems Through a Vision of Scalable Proximity."
Professor Tolga Bektas (below) presented a keynote titled "Trends in Last-Mile Logistics," and Professor Arribas-Bel chaired one of the plenary sessions.
The symposium provided an excellent platform for sharing research on themes such as sustainable transport, climate change, port geography, the low-altitude economy, high-speed rail and urban development, rail transit and land use, electric vehicles, GeoAI, and multiple airport systems.
After that, the UoL-UCAS team travelled to Chongqing to take part in the International Symposium on Transportation Organisation Innovations of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, hosted by Southwest University and organised by Professor Humming Zong.
The Liverpool team contributed presentations on satellite imagery, scalable proximity, and last-mile logistics,while Professors Huang and Zong shared insights on multimodal accessibility and trade corridor performance, respectively.
Later that day, the team visited the New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co. Ltd. where representatives from the company outlined their strategies and goals for corridor development. The session highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration in supporting regional integration and international trade, beyond infrastructure provision alone.
From 20 May, the joint UoL-CAS team continued their journey to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan-one of the key gateway cities to the China-Laos Railway. From there, the group travelled to Boten and then onward to Vientiane. Inaugurated in January 2023, this railway is part of a broader international plan to connect Yunnan to Singapore. Although the route currently ends in Laos, the journey provided valuable first-hand experience of the practical and regulatory challenges of cross-border railway travel.
Some delegates had pre-approved visas, while others did not, resulting in two very different border-crossing experiences-including unexpected detours and the need to carry luggage manually through stations. These contrasting experiences gave the research team important insights into the real-world complexities of international railway operations and underlined the significance of overcoming logistical and regulatory bottlenecks to advance regional integration.
The UoL-CAS team rejoined at the Boten rail station after the border control to continue the journey.
The intensive research trip significantly strengthened the collaboration between the University of Liverpool and UCAS, expanded networks among scholars working on transport-related themes, and laid a strong foundation for future international cooperation on cross-border railway systems.
The visit formed part of a Royal Society-funded cost-share project titled "Learning from UK-France Cross-Border Railway Transportation: Border Effect Modelling and Operational Modes for the China-Laos Railway", running from 31 March 2024 to 30 March 2026,
This international exchange grant also supports the four-year research project entitled "Spatial Pattern and Influence Mechanism of Cross-Border Railway Transportation Connectivity Under Boundary Constraints."
