China's approach to Smart Container: Technology Adoption, Data Governance, and Implications for Global Logistics

Levtov, Marianna

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China's approach to Smart Container: Technology Adoption, Data Governance, and Implications for Global Logistics

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Levtov, Marianna (2026) China's approach to Smart Container: Technology Adoption, Data Governance, and Implications for Global Logistics. PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire. doi:10.46289/GNAJ8388

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Abstract

The digitalisation of containerised maritime transport is widely presented as a mechanism for improving visibility, operational efficiency and supply chain security. However, the global diffusion of track-and-trace technology for containers remains uneven and insufficiently explained in existing research. China, as the largest container manufacturing nation and a central actor in maritime logistics, occupies a critical but empirically underexamined position in this development. Current literature provides only partial accounts of China’s digitalisation trajectory and offers limited insight into how policy ambition, institutional structures and organisational incentives influence the evolution of smart container technologies. This study investigates China’s approach to integration of the track-and-trace capabilities into the global container ecosystem. Four objectives guide the research. The first objective is to clarify, through a critical review of existing academic literature, how Chinese container digitalisation has been conceptualised and where analytical gaps persist. The second objective is to examine empirically the Chinese approach to applying track-and-trace technology on Chinese owned containers operating in global logistics, based on qualitative evidence from semi-structured interviews. The third objective is to evaluate Chinese perspectives on data ownership and data sharing within the digitised supply chain, a domain that shapes both domestic coordination and international interoperability. The fourth objective is to interpret the empirical findings within the context of China’s industrial policy goals, to clarify how Made in China strategies shape container-level digitalisation. Empirical data were generated through semi-structured interviews conducted in Chinese with senior figures from shipping lines, container manufacturers, technology providers and national standardisation bodies. The use of the original language ensured accurate representation of meanings and cultural nuance during the analysis process. The findings show that China’s digitalisation agenda presents a clear strategic rationale at the policy level but displays fragmentation in operational practice. Adoption decisions are shaped by ownership configurations, divergent commercial incentives, legacy operational routines and technological constraints. Data governance reflects a combination of sovereignty oriented regulatory principles and context dependent contractual arrangements. Standardisation efforts reveal institutional competition and technical divergence that complicate international interoperability. The study contributes to academic debate by applying developmental state theory, the technology-organisation-environment framework, institutional theory and data governance research into the empirical case of container digitalisation. This research clarifies how state driven industrial ambition interacts with organisational decision making in a global transport system. The study also provides practical insight into the structural factors that influence the adoption of smart container technologies originating from China and their implications for global logistics digitalisation.

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Thesis (PhD)

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