Sustainability 2014, 6, 7089-7106; doi:10.3390/su6107089 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article The Spatio-Temporal Distribution and Development Modes of Border Ports in China Jiaoe Wang 1,2, Yang Cheng 3,* and Huihui Mo 4 1 Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; E-Mail:
[email protected] 2 Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK 3 School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; E-Mail:
[email protected] 4 China Communications and Transportation Association, Beijing 100053, China; E-Mail:
[email protected] * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +86-10-5880-7454 (ext. 1340). External Editor: Marc A. Rosen Received: 8 July 2014; in revised form: 17 September 2014 / Accepted: 8 October 2014 / Published: 16 October 2014 Abstract: Border ports play a substantial role in socio-economic exchanges, which reflect the diplomatic relations between neighboring countries. This paper maps and analyzes the evolution process of border ports in China since the 1930s, in terms of the spatial distribution, transport modes, cargo and flows of people. Four development modes of border ports and cities are summarized based on the functions and development level of border ports and their proximity to urban core areas. The four modes include: (1) Port-Port mode; (2) City-Port-Port-City mode; (3) City (Port)-Port-City mode; (4) City (Port)-City (Port) mode, which also reflect the spatio-temporal evolution process of certain border ports and cities.