Freight Forwarding in China2134154
Latest figures show that China has now overtaken Japan as the second largest economy in the world after Japan.
This improvement in the relative overall performance of China is encouraging news to the freight forwarding sector in China, that has been battling with the international downturn in trade in current years. However, even with the international slowdown, there was some growth in China's freight transport infrastructure in 2009, as it anticipated this improvement in performance and planned for development in demand for freight services. China's response to the global economic downturn has been to seize the initiative and strategy for a better future for China import.
More than recent years, China has experienced a worldwide decline in demand for Chinese imports and this has of course had a huge influence on the freight services business of the export dependent nation. Demand for China imports such as toys, furnishings and textiles has been dampened by the most severe economic downturn in decades.
Nowhere has the decline in demand for China imports been felt much more keenly that in the box visitors trade. China's two largest container ports are Shanghai and Shenzhen. The throughput figures at both have noticed year on year falls and the throughput figures mask an even worse overall performance in terms of laden containers. The Shenzhen port figures for freight forwarding are a direct reflection of manufacturing in the Pearl River Delta.
As imports to China have also declined as a outcome of its own domestic slowdown, the volume declines have been evident in both inbound and outbound containers.Inbound cargo includes raw materials and components, which are then processed into finished goods for export at factories in the southern Guangdong, China's economic powerhouse. The high level of import of raw materials for subsequent processing and export indicates that the freight solutions sector in China has had a double whammy, as declines in manufacturing due to decreased demand for China import has a direct knock on impact on international freight traffic into China as well.
All through this difficult period, domestic demand in China has accounted for some increases in domestic container trade, and this has been welcome news for numerous a shipping business. Domestic demand has usually been noticed in increased trade in cargo from the south of China to the North.In common, the advantages of domestic freight transport have been skilled more in the Shanghai, northern ports such as Quingdao and Tianjin and the smaller ports, as they handle a bigger proportion of domestic trade by shipping companies.
However, spurred on by the impact of the international slowdown on China, Beijing has elevated its concentrate on enhancing the international freight transport infrastructure. The China government has spearheaded a raft of initiatives. This includes both physical upgrades and revisions to the systems that affect international trade and international freight solutions.
Other initiatives have also helped pave the way for the next upturn, such as new direct shipping links in between China and Taiwan. Kaohsiung in Taiwan, which was the world's third busiest container port in the 1990s,saw its ranking slip with China's economic rise, as a lack of direct transportation links with China undermined its position and significance for the freight business.
A deal in between the two former political rivals has renewed Chinese interest in the port, driving investment plans. Shipping companies previously made costly detours through third countries to get cargo from 1 side to the other. So the new direct shipping hyperlinks will make freight transport more streamlined and price efficient.
Other initiatives related to the freight services business have also taken shape throughout the period of economic slowdown, putting China in a much better position as the recovery arrives.
1 interesting initiative has been a joint venture in between America's CYBRA Corporation and Important West Technologies which have joined forces with the Chinese Transport Ministry's Water borne Transportation Institute (WTI) to develop and manufacture container tracking devices for international freight. A joint venture, Beijing Smart Shipping Technologies (SST),has been set up to develop smart shipping container devices and other intelligent transport tools to produce greater consignment visibility in maritime shipping. CYBRA, which is a developer and distributor of bar code software program for IBM, will join its partners in developing the world's only real end-to-end international tracking and monitoring solution for the freight services business.
As globe leader in exports, regardless of the slowdown, China is thus taking a leadership role in provide chain tracking, monitoring and management. It is believed that in the future, safe inter modal freight transport will rely on intelligent technologies. China's role in facilitating the commercialisation of such products will be of great advantage to shipping businesses and indeed every freight business, permitting them to add value to their service. The intelligent technologies will enable every piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anyplace in the world.
