China announced its first long-term plan for modernizing China’s logistics system, with a focus on improving efficiency resilience and safety.
By 2025, a modern logistics system featuring supply/demand adaptation with internal and external connectivity will basically be in place.
It will be safe, efficient, smart, and green, extending the value chain of logistics services, strengthening the service guarantee of modern logistics to people’s livelihood and improving the emergency response capacity of modern logistics.
The past few years had shown that China’s transport and logistics infrastructure had struggled to cope with peaks in demand and that “considerable” investment would be required to increase capacity at ports, airports and in the road and rail system.
There would need to be a focus on driving down logistics costs as a proportion of GDP, requiring business reform, a reduction in tax and other levies and cutting congestion.
Western manufacturers are under pressure to look at alternative production locations in Asia, and China’s authorities will need to work hard to retain their position as the off-shoring market of choice.
Pandemic-induced shortages of finished goods and crucial parts for manufacturing had exposed the cost of being over-reliant on one country for supplying the world and the need to expand logistics footprints.