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Abstract Now in China, government began to develop modern logistics and drew up series of polices and developing plan of urban and regional logistics.The modern logistics had become one part of region economic system and how to organize logistics activities became important problem of region development which was greatly interested by geographers. Geographical research on modern logistics was derived from transportation geography. Transportation geography had a long research history and became one independent subject of human geography, now there are tow important research fields:1)container ports; 2)air networks. But it ignored the geographical importance of modern logistics and dominant function in transportation infrastructure distribution study. In current years, some geographers criticized this phenomenon and paid attention to modern logistics, such as Dicken, Knox, Hesse and Rodrigue. And some geographers began to research the geographical importance, such as Hanson, Glasmeier and Riemers. Through preliminary researches, there are important conclusions in international geography field,including logistics networks,spatial friction,relation between production model and logistics system, time and space abbreviation, logistics center location. Transportation geography in China became a subject after 1950s, and there are three important research fields:1)container port; 2)air networks; 3)passengers and freight flow, but the majority of Chinese geographers ignore the geographical importance of modern logistics. Since 1980s, Chinese researchers had begun to study modern logistics, and some geographers also paid attention to it and studied the geographical importance, such as Han Zeng-lin, Wang Li and Wang Cheng-Jin. Now in China, some geographers such as Han Zeng-lin and Lu La-chang etc, put out logistics geography and devised its theoretical studying frame, including:1)relation between logistics activity and geographical environment; 2)logistics regional distribution and difference; 3)logistics region organization and plan; 4)spatial flow regulation of logistics; 5)formation and evolution of logistics economy. Furthermore, the development of logistics geography could actuate economic geography to management.
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Received: 13 September 2005
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2006, Vol. 21 
