Chinanews, Beijing, Jan. 16 – Since China fully opened its logistic industry to the world by the end of 2005, large amounts of foreign investment have flowed into the logistic industry, which has become a new spot to attract foreign investment.
In 2006, international freight transport and express mail delivery were the two sectors that sparked the fiercest competition. Federal Express (FedEx) has now established outlets in more than 220 cities across China and in the next five years, it plans to expand its service network to another 100 cities or more in China. UPS has opened six direct flights to large cities including Beijing and Shanghai and set up its branch offices in more than 20 cities in China, including Shenzhen, Qingdao, and Xiamen. TNT’s service covers over 200 cities across China and it has established over 2,000 networks, making China its largest market outside Europe. DHL's service has covered 318 cities in China and it has set up 50 branch offices. Mitsui Group, a Japanese company, has set up a distribution network in China by cooperating with Chinese steel giants like Baosteel, Anshan and Wuhan iron and steel corporations. Large amounts of foreign investment have also flowed into the automobile, energy and port logistic fields. Port logistic and container transport have become the fields with the fastest growth of foreign investment. In addition, companies like ProLogis have also entered into the property logistic field. ProLogis has now established logistic parks in China’s eastern and central regions.
After China carried out the reform and opening-up, foreign investment first entered into China’s second-tier industry. China has quickly become the world’s manufacturing center and its manufacturing output now ranks No. 4 in the world. As foreign companies introduced their advanced production modes, they also brought advanced logistic modes to China. As a result, China’s trade volume with foreign countries and the amount of foreign investment have both been surging in China. The ultimate goal of foreign investment is China’s service industry. According to statistics released by World Bank, logistic industry is one of the important sectors in China’s service industry, said Ding Junfa, executive vice chairman of the China Logistic and Purchasing Association.
