Freight Forwarding in China8273706
Newest figures show that China has now overtaken Japan as the second biggest economy in the globe following 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 recent 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 performance and planned for growth in demand for freight solutions. 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 current years, China has experienced a worldwide decline in demand for Chinese imports and this has of course had a huge impact on the freight services business of the export dependent nation. Demand for China imports such as toys, furniture and textiles has been dampened by the most serious 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 biggest 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 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 materials and components, which are then processed into finished 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 means 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 effect on international freight traffic into China as well.
All through this tough period, domestic demand in China has accounted for some increases in domestic container trade, and this has been welcome news for many a shipping business. Domestic demand has usually 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 much more in the Shanghai, northern ports such as Quingdao and Tianjin and the smaller ports, as they handle a larger proportion of domestic trade by shipping businesses.
Nevertheless, 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 consists of each 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 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 company.
A deal between the two former political rivals has renewed Chinese interest in the port, driving investment plans. Shipping companies previously produced pricey 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 effective.
Other initiatives associated to the freight solutions industry have also taken shape during the period of economic slowdown, placing China in a better position as the recovery arrives.
One 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 create and manufacture container tracking devices for international freight. A joint venture, Beijing Smart Shipping Technologies (SST),has been set up to create smart 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 real end-to-end international tracking and monitoring answer for the freight services business.
As world 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, 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 indeed every freight company, permitting them to add worth to their service. The intelligent technologies will enable each piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anyplace in the world.
