Freight Forwarding in China7048152
Latest 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 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 overall performance and planned for development in demand for freight services. China's response to the international economic downturn has been to seize the initiative and strategy 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 massive 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 serious economic 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 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 personal domestic slowdown, the volume declines have been evident in each inbound and outbound containers.Inbound cargo includes raw supplies 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 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 visitors into China as nicely.
Throughout 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 company. 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 skilled more in the Shanghai, northern ports such as Quingdao and Tianjin and the smaller sized ports, as they handle a bigger proportion of domestic trade by shipping companies.
Nevertheless, spurred on by the influence of the global 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 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 financial rise, as a lack of direct transportation links with China undermined its position and significance for the freight business.
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 nations to get cargo from one side to the other. So the new direct shipping links will make freight transport much more streamlined and price efficient.
Other initiatives associated to the freight services business have also taken shape throughout the period of financial slowdown, placing 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 develop and manufacture container tracking devices for international freight. A joint venture, Beijing Smart Shipping Technologies (SST),has been set up to create intelligent shipping container devices and other smart 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 real finish-to-end international tracking and monitoring answer for the freight services industry.
As world leader in exports, regardless of the slowdown, China is therefore taking a leadership role in supply chain tracking, monitoring and management. It is believed that in the future, secure inter modal freight transport will rely on intelligent technologies. China's role in facilitating the commercialisation of such goods will be of fantastic advantage to shipping businesses and certainly each freight business, allowing them to add value to their service. The smart technologies will enable each piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anyplace in the globe.
