News / Silk Road Shipping deploys first smart containers as e-commerce grows

Silk Road Maritime Containers. Credit: Eric Huang

Silk Road Shipping, China’s first cross-border e-commerce express container shipping alliance, reached a new milestone last week, when it deployed specially designed smart containers for the first time.

The containers use Internet of Things technology, enabling users to visualise container flows through mobile communication, and Beidou, a satellite-based radio navigation system, owned and operated by the China National Space Administration.

Seven smart containers were loaded onto the 1,100 teu SITC Dalian in China’s Xiamen port on 21 March, which departed for Haiphong, ...