Freight Forwarding in China9790947
Newest figures show that China has now overtaken Japan as the second biggest economy in the globe following 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 global downturn in trade in recent years. However, even with the global 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 solutions. China's response to the global financial downturn has been to seize the initiative and plan for a better future for China import.
Over current 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 industry of the export dependent country. Demand for China imports such as toys, furniture and textiles has been dampened by the most severe financial 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 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 result of its own domestic slowdown, the volume declines have been evident in both inbound and outbound containers.Inbound cargo consists of raw supplies and elements, which are then processed into completed goods for export at factories in the southern Guangdong, China's financial powerhouse. The high level of import of raw supplies for subsequent processing and export means 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 effect 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 generally been noticed in elevated trade in cargo from the south of China to the North.In common, the advantages 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 handle 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 impact international trade and international freight services.
Other initiatives have also helped pave the way for the next upturn, such as new direct shipping hyperlinks 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 hyperlinks with China undermined its position and importance for the freight company.
A deal in between the two former political rivals has renewed Chinese interest in the port, driving investment plans. Shipping companies previously produced pricey detours through third countries to get cargo from one 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 solutions industry have also taken shape throughout the period of financial slowdown, placing China in a better position as the recovery arrives.
One fascinating initiative has been a joint venture in 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 create and manufacture container tracking devices for international freight. A joint venture, Beijing Intelligent 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 creating the world's only genuine end-to-finish international tracking and monitoring answer for the freight solutions business.
As world leader in exports, despite the slowdown, China is therefore taking a leadership role in provide chain tracking, monitoring and management. It is believed that in the future, secure inter modal freight transport will rely on intelligent technologies. China's function in facilitating the commercialisation of such goods will be of great advantage to shipping companies and certainly each freight company, allowing them to add value to their service. The intelligent technology will enable every piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anywhere in the world.
