Freight Forwarding in China3029370
Newest figures show that China has now overtaken Japan as the second biggest economy in the globe after Japan.
This improvement in the relative performance of China is encouraging news to the freight forwarding sector in China, that has been battling with the global downturn in trade in current years. However, even with the global slowdown, there was some development in China's freight transport infrastructure in 2009, as it anticipated this improvement in performance and planned for growth in demand for freight solutions. China's response to the international economic downturn has been to seize the initiative and strategy for a much better future for China import.
Over current years, China has skilled a worldwide decline in demand for Chinese imports and this has of course had a huge influence on the freight services industry of the export dependent nation. Demand for China imports such as toys, furnishings and textiles has been dampened by the most serious financial downturn in decades.
Nowhere has the decline in demand for China imports been felt more keenly that in the box visitors trade. China's two largest container ports are Shanghai and Shenzhen. The throughput figures at each have seen 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 result of its personal domestic slowdown, the volume declines have been evident in both inbound and outbound containers.Inbound cargo includes raw materials and elements, which are then processed into completed goods for export at factories in the southern Guangdong, China's financial powerhouse. The higher level of import of raw supplies for subsequent processing and export indicates that the freight services 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 visitors into China as nicely.
Throughout this difficult period, domestic demand in China has accounted for some increases in domestic container trade, and this has been welcome news for many a shipping company. Domestic demand has generally been seen in increased trade in cargo from the south of China to the North.In general, the benefits of domestic freight transport have been skilled much more in the Shanghai, northern ports such as Quingdao and Tianjin and the smaller ports, as they deal with a larger proportion of domestic trade by shipping businesses.
However, spurred on by the impact of the global slowdown on China, Beijing has increased its focus 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 services.
Other initiatives have also helped pave the way for the next upturn, such as new direct shipping links 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 financial rise, as a lack of direct transportation hyperlinks with China undermined its position and importance for the freight company.
A deal between the two former political rivals has renewed Chinese interest in the port, driving investment plans. Shipping businesses previously made costly detours through third nations to get cargo from one side to the other. So the new direct shipping hyperlinks will make freight transport more streamlined and cost efficient.
Other initiatives associated to the freight solutions business have also taken shape throughout the period of economic slowdown, placing China in a better position as the recovery arrives.
One interesting initiative has been a joint venture between America's CYBRA Corporation and Key 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 Intelligent Shipping Technologies (SST),has been set up to develop intelligent shipping container devices and other smart transport tools to create greater consignment visibility in maritime shipping. CYBRA, which is a developer and distributor of bar code software for IBM, will join its partners in developing the world's only genuine end-to-end global tracking and monitoring solution for the freight solutions business.
As globe leader in exports, regardless of the slowdown, China is therefore taking a leadership function in supply chain tracking, monitoring and management. It is believed that in the future, safe inter modal freight transport will depend on smart technologies. China's function in facilitating the commercialisation of such products will be of great benefit to shipping companies and certainly every freight business, permitting them to add value to their service. The smart technologies will enable each piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anywhere in the world.
