The China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education and the China Professional Degree Case Center recently announced the completion results for the 2024 thematic case study projects. CESD’s project, ‘Digital and Intelligent Empowerment: How Can Tianjin Port Build a World-Class Smart and Green Port?,’ was successfully completed. Professor Xiao Jianhua, Director of the Center for Modern Logistics Research, served as chief expert, with Yu Hang, Yang Jinglei, Wu Xiaofan, and other faculty members as core participants. The submitted case study, ‘Co-Creating Advantage: A Longitudinal Case Study of Tianjin Port’s Multidimensional Digital and Intelligent Alliances from an Actor–Network Perspective,’ passed expert review and was selected for the Ministry of Education’s repository of exemplary thematic case study outputs.

Focusing on Tianjin Port, the project addresses challenges in the port’s digital and intelligent transformation, including insufficient technological coordination and underdeveloped cross-sector ecosystems. It examines collaboration with Huawei to develop a digital system covering the entire operational chain, connect data between the port and urban industries, and explore new applications for the low-altitude economy in the port area. Together, these efforts form a systematic solution integrating technological breakthroughs, ecosystem collaboration, and mutually supportive port–city development. The case provides a replicable model for smart and green transformation in the global port industry. Its integration into courses such as Smart Logistics and Applied Cases in Logistics and Supply Chains also supports the development of interdisciplinary talent and stronger industrial chain resilience. It further contributes to China’s international influence in smart ports and offers Chinese expertise for the digital and intelligent development of global shipping.

The call for thematic case study projects was launched in 2024 by the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center and the China Professional Degree Case Center. Six projects at Nankai University were approved that year, covering the themes of Green Development, New Quality Productive Forces, Healthy China, and Digital China. This was CESD’s first thematic case study project funded through the Ministry of Education’s degree center.