regional review
Sunward Logistics Co. Ltd. coordinates an offshore drilling platform project in Shandong Province, China. Credit: Marshall Bian, Sunward
BUILDING OPTIMISM China’s Transport Boost for Over-dimensional Industry BY THOMAS TIMLEN
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hina’s Ministry of Transport issued guidelines in August to promote the “intensified, intelligent and standardized development of the logistics industry,” making efforts to reduce costs and to enhance the efficiency of the industry, “injecting new vitality to the Chinese economy.” With its four-year timeline, the project aims to achieve its goals by 2020, and industry experts believe there are grounds for optimism that the plan will aid the movement of project cargo in China. “Obviously, the Ministry of Transport has introduced the guidelines to promote the development of China’s transport industry,” said 26 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com
Marshall Bian of Sunward Logistics Co. Ltd., based in Qingdao. “Whether ordinary goods or the out-of-gauge, oversized, project cargo, all are bound to benefit under this guidance.”
CHINA’S LOGISTICS: 2016 GAINS Value of goods carried by China’s logistics sector, in US$trillions.
13
12.25
WHY THIS, WHY NOW?
Although China’s overall economic growth has slowed to levels last seen in 2009 (yet still on an upward arc enviable in other parts of the world), indicators released for 2016 show the logistics sector improving against last year’s performance, having moved almost US$13 trillion worth of freight in the first half alone. With growth comes higher volumes of freight across all transport modes, and inefficiencies experienced at bottlenecks create unwanted costs that nullify savings gained elsewhere.
Jan 2016
May 2016
Source: The State Council, People’s Republic of China
ISSUE 6 / 2016