Freight Forwarding in China7298720
Latest figures show that China has now overtaken Japan as the second largest economy in the world 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 international downturn in trade in current years. Nevertheless, even with the global slowdown, there was some development in China's freight transport infrastructure in 2009, as it anticipated this improvement in overall performance and planned for growth in demand for freight services. China's response to the global financial downturn has been to seize the initiative and strategy for a much 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 solutions business of the export dependent nation. Demand for China imports such as toys, furniture and textiles has been dampened by the most serious financial downturn in decades.
Nowhere has the decline in demand for China imports been felt much more keenly that in the box traffic trade. China's two largest container ports are Shanghai and Shenzhen. The throughput figures at each 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 personal domestic slowdown, the volume declines have been evident in both inbound and outbound containers.Inbound cargo consists of raw supplies 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 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 traffic into China as nicely.
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 generally been seen in increased trade in cargo from the south of China to the North.In common, the advantages of domestic freight transport have been experienced 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 companies.
However, spurred on by the influence 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 each physical upgrades and revisions to the systems that impact international trade and international freight solutions.
Other initiatives have also helped pave the way for the subsequent 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 links with China undermined its position and significance for the freight company.
A deal between the two former political rivals has renewed Chinese interest in the port, driving investment plans. Shipping companies previously made pricey detours via third countries 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 services industry have also taken shape during the period of financial slowdown, putting China in a much better position as the recovery arrives.
1 fascinating initiative has been a joint venture 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 create and manufacture container tracking devices for international freight. A joint venture, Beijing Smart Shipping Technologies (SST),has been set up to develop intelligent shipping container devices and other smart transport tools to create higher 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 international tracking and monitoring solution for the freight services industry.
As globe leader in exports, regardless of the slowdown, China is thus taking a leadership function in supply chain tracking, monitoring and management. It is believed that in the future, secure inter modal freight transport will rely on smart technologies. China's function in facilitating the commercialisation of such goods will be of fantastic advantage to shipping businesses and certainly every freight company, permitting them to add value to their service. The smart technology will allow every piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anywhere in the globe.
