According to a report conducted by Dalian Maritime University and Shipping China, an industry website based in Dalian, Shanghai International Port, operator of China’s busiest container port, ranks highest among China’s sixty ports in terms of comprehensive competence.

The comprehensive competence of 60 major ports in China was surveyed by evaluating investment trends, handling capacity, financial situations and geographical conditions.

Liu Bin, professor with Dalian Maritime University said Shanghai port scored 257.9 points, ranking highest with an absolute advantage among all the ports. He said it was the only port in China that is internationally competitive.

Shanghai, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Ningbo ports were the top five out of sixty ports with comprehensive competence on the list, followed by Tianjin, Xiamen, Dalian, Lianyungang and Yingkou ports.

Shipping China conducted an online survey that covered some 12,000 Chinese respondents, all of whom are involved in some way with shipping. They were asked to evaluate the levels of service of domestic major ports based on staff service attitudes, service regulation and facilities, port handling capacity, charge and direct shipping service. Surprisingly, the survey found that Lianyungang port came out top in terms of customer satisfaction, followed by Yingkou, Qingdao, Tianjin and Shanghai ports.
Source: China Daily

Research and Markets has announced the publication of its China Highway Industry Report, 2007. The figures are fascinating.

China highway transportation in the first nine months of 2006 continued to increase at a rate of over 8.5% compared to the same period of 2005. The freight volume and freight turnover volume increased 8.9% and 11.6% separately. The overall profitability of highway industry was further strengthened, and the operating performance of the major listed companies beat or even exceeded the expectations generally.

But, generally speaking, the report states that China expressway development is backward.

Compared by population density, China’s expressway mileage every 10,000 population in 2005 was 10% of that of the United States and 25% that of Germany.

• In the United States the expressway has connected all the cities with a population of over 50,000.
• In Germany the expressway has connected all the cities with a population of more than 50,000 and 90% of cities with a population of less than 50,000.
• In Japan the expressway has connected all the cities with a population of more than 100,000.
• In China, the expressway just covers provincial capital cities and cities with urban populations of more than 500,000. In the medium cities with a population of more than 200,000, only 60% of them are connected by an expressway.

Meanwhile, with the rapid increase of automobile penetration rate and the fast development of external logistics, the expressway industry produces great opportunities for expansion. In the near future, the risks of the expressway industry are mainly from the rise in oil prices and the fuel tax that will be probably imposed.
Source: Research and Markets

According to a research report the vast majority — 80% or more — of China’s overseas express mail services are provided by four foreign logistics giants. These are FedEx and UPS of the United States, DHL which is based in Germany and ex-Australian but now Dutch TNT.

Executive vice chairman Ding Junfa of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said foreign competitors dominate overseas express mail, shipping and logistics businesses aimed at foreign manufacturers and the catering sector.

He said, ‘Domestic competitors will find it hard to break their domination in the short term.’

The report was jointly compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce. It said nearly 98% of the clients of the four foreign giants in China were joint ventures or wholly-owned foreign companies.

Domestic logistics firms were unable to break out of the low-value sector of the market. Worth noting is that the report suggested the Chinese government regulate the logistics industry to prevent the formation of monopolies and protect the interests of small and medium-sized firms.
Source: Xinhua

DHL Global Forwarding is the first international forwarder that has obtained the CATA (China Air Transport Association) domestic airfreight license, allowing them to operate to 17 Chinese cities.

The CATA license marks a turning point for DHL in the Chinese domestic logistics market, as it was previously served only by state-owned and local companies.
Peter Landsiedel, chief executive officer – Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding said, ‘We are confident that the license to operate into the domestic airfreight market will provide fresh opportunities and improved management of heavy airfreight from door-to-door for our customers.’

DHL intends to obtain 30 more CATA licences covering 70 cities in China in the next five years. The DHL Global Forwarding Domestic Airfreight services will be operated with domestic carriers such as Air China Cargo, China Cargo Airlines, China Southern and Shanghai Airlines.
Source: Air Cargo News

Pi Qiansheng, director of the Administrative Committee of the Binhai New Area southeast of Beijing, has said this year, local government will boost the area’s development ‘more quickly and soundly.’
The government will speed up construction of eight functional zones in the area, including a hi-tech zone, a port logistics zone, an airport logistics zone, a central business district and a resort area.

Plainly logisitics is the key to expanding the Binhai base which, as it stands, produced one out of every 10 mobile phones produced in the world last year.

Binhai New Area, about 120 kilometers to the southeast of Beijing, produced more than 100 million mobile phones in 2006, up 45% on the previous year and accounting for a quarter of the country’s total and a tenth of the world total. This according to the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

China has listed the Binhai New Area in its development plan for the 2006-2010 period, aiming to make it the country’s third economic engine, along with Shenzhen and Shanghai’s Pudong area on the east coast. On completion, the area will cover 2,270 square kilometers with logistics playing an essential and important part.
Source: China Daily

Yang Yuanyuan, head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC), has urged the air traffic control department to study airspace issues related to the 2008 Olympic Games and come up with a detailed plan as soon as possible. He said, ‘The key issues include adjusting air routes over Beijing during the Games, redesigning air routes for departing planes and planes flying through the capital’s air space and improving air routes in neighboring areas.’

A new set of initials to deal with: CAAC plans to apply the RVSM (reduced vertical separation minimums) system to handle the increase in air traffic. Air traffic in China is expected to increase by at least 50% by 2008, with the Games generating an additional 15%.

Another measure is to set up an air control region in Beijing before the end of this year, with terminals shared by both the military and the civil aviation department. IATA, which helped the Athens and Sydney organizers with air traffic control during the last two Games, said it would do the same with Beijing.
Source: China Daily

Shanghai International, operator of China’s busiest container port and, arguably, one of the three busiest in the world, said it made a profit of RMB2.95 billion (US$380 million) last year. Total sales were RMB12.6 billion the company said in a preliminary statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Shanghai handled 20% more cargo boxes last year and should pass Hong Kong as the world’s second-busiest container port this year. This after the second phase of the new US$16 billion Yangshan Deep-Water Port begins operating.

Ji Lijun, an analyst at Shanghai Securities, said, ‘Expanding capacity in Shanghai’s Yangshan port will support the company’s profit growth this year. Yangshan is the largest port in the Yangtze River Delta, so it may win the price war going on in the area.’

Shanghai port handled 21.7 million 20-foot standard boxes in 2006. Hong Kong handled 23.2 million. But Shanghai is increasing at a rate of 21% a year; Hong Kong at 2.8%.
Source: Shanghai Daily News

Kenilworth’s Summit Global Logistics says it has received approval from Shanghai government officials to set up a company there. The company, which mainly moves apparel and household goods, will have about 70 employees in China. The office is set to open in March.

It was set up under newly adopted Chinese rules that allow foreign companies to entirely own and operate companies.

Robert A. Agresti, Summit’s CEO, noting that it took just two months to get approval, said, ‘Things are changing in China. Things have gotten a little less difficult.’ Summit was formed in November by merging several logisitic companies. It now has 800 employees.

Source: PR release

According to the Centre of Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) the Chinese government is considering consolidating its big three airlines of Air China, China Southern and China Eastern into two mega carriers.

CAPA executive chairman, Mr Peter Harbison, said, ‘Profitability of the big three came under pressure in 2006, mainly due to higher fuel costs, but Shanghai’s China Eastern also struggled under the weight of a bloated cost structure. . . . A deal between China Eastern and China Southern is logical, as the latter retains significant operations in Guangzhou and Beijing, but is facing intense competition from the powerful Air China-Cathay Pacific combination.’

As matter stand, the big three have main hubs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. If the merger goes ahead one possibility will be that the integrated carriers will have a big presence in all hubs.
Source: TTG Travel Hub

Over RMB1 Billion (US$128 million) will be invested by the government to expand the Lijiang City Airport in Yunnan Province, according to officials from the Yunnan Provincial Government.

After the expansion, the airport will be the second largest airport in Yunnan Province able to handle 4.05 million passengers every year. Although still unable to handle international flights, the expanded airport will become a hub for new flights to Laos and Thailand in the south via Xishuangbanna, and Tibet and Sichuan in the north, making it a major air hub on the Shangri-La tourist route.

In 2006 Lijiang received over four million tourists, with the number expected to reach seven million by 2008.
Source: TTG Travel