Freight Forwarding in China6966265
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. 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 growth in demand for freight solutions. China's response to the international economic downturn has been to seize the initiative and plan for a much better future for China import.
More than recent 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 business of the export dependent country. Demand for China imports such as toys, furnishings and textiles has been dampened by the most severe economic 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 both 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 personal 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 finished goods for export at factories in the southern Guangdong, China's economic powerhouse. The high level of import of raw materials for subsequent processing and export indicates 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 visitors into China as well.
Throughout this tough period, domestic demand in China has accounted for some increases in domestic container trade, and this has been welcome news for numerous a shipping company. Domestic demand has usually 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 experienced much 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 businesses.
Nevertheless, spurred on by the impact of the global slowdown on China, Beijing has increased its concentrate on improving 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 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 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 costly detours via third countries to get cargo from 1 side to the other. So the new direct shipping links will make freight transport more streamlined and cost efficient.
Other initiatives related to the freight services business have also taken shape during the period of economic slowdown, placing China in a much better position as the recovery arrives.
One interesting 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 create intelligent shipping container devices and other intelligent 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 creating the world's only genuine finish-to-end international tracking and monitoring solution for the freight solutions industry.
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, safe inter modal freight transport will depend on intelligent technologies. China's function in facilitating the commercialisation of such goods will be of great benefit to shipping businesses and indeed each freight company, allowing them to add worth to their service. The smart technology will enable each piece of cargo to be tracked, monitored and managed anywhere in the world.
