BEIJING -- With the continuous advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative, China is experiencing more frequent trade exchanges with countries and regions along the routes, which has brought about more business opportunities for the logistics sector.
According to the State Post Bureau of China, China's cross-border express business surged in the first half of this year. The total number of handled parcels hit 520 million pieces, a year-on-year growth of 43.1 percent. The growth rate is 15.6 percent higher than the average performance of the logistics sector, reflecting growing capacity of cross-border delivery.
-- Chinese logistics firms eye international air transport
To facilitate the Belt and Road construction, domestic courier enterprises have quickened the pace to strengthen international aviation logistics capacity.
For example, ZTO Express, together with Turkish Airlines and Air Pacific established a joint venture in Hong Kong to develop international aviation logistics service. YTO Express together with Air China and other enterprises started to build a world-class logistics hub in Hong Kong. China Post has built 144 cross-border e-commerce warehouses and industrial parks and set up 11 overseas warehouses in the United States, the UK, Australia, Japan, and other countries and regions.
SF Airlines, a member of S.F. Group engaged in providing air cargo service, has launched the air routes to Osaka, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Dhaka and other overseas cities. International service of SF Express has reached out to 53 countries and regions including the United States, the EU, Russia, Japan and Malaysia.
On August 5, SF Airlines started services of direct cargo flight from Shenzhen to Chennai, India. It helped transport the raw materials to the local mobile phone makers.
The direct cargo flight has ensured the safety of the goods and helped goods in large volumes reach destinations in a timely manner, according to Liu Lianghao, chairman of SF Airlines.
--- Air freighter has remarkably enhanced efficiency
The air freighters have shortened the distance between China and other countries and regions along the Belt and Road and improved the transportation efficiency to boost cross-border trade exchanges.
At 4:00 p.m. on August 7, over ten operators were doing security screening, packaging and uploading at the warehouse in Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, making preparation for the flight scheduled at 2:00 a.m. on August 8 to Novosibirsk, Russia. These parcels contained garment, shoes, hats and daily necessities traded over cross-border e-commerce platforms and exported to Russia.
This flight has been operating for exact one year. The air freighter from Hangzhou, China to Novosibirsk, Russia, is maneuvered by Russian Airlines Aeroflot but operated by Hangzhou Branch of China Postal Express & Logistics Co., Ltd. (China Postal Express & Logistics).
"Over the past year, the time needed for delivery has been reduced from over 20 days to 10 days, which has also boosted the sales volumes," said Zhang Wei, general manager of a garment company in Hangzhou.
Before the direct flight, most of the parcels sent from Hangzhou to Russia need to be distributed in the airports of Shanghai or Beijing. Since its opening, transfer is replaced with direct flight. Therefore, it only takes 7 hours to travel 4,300 kilometers, Zhang added.
"The cross-border export mails have seen a rapid increase since the opening of direct air freighter between Hangzhou and Novosibirsk," noted Zhu Zhangyao, general manager of Zhejiang Branch of China Postal Express & Logistics Post.
Over the past one year, more than 150 flights have been made, handling nearly 18 million pieces of mails weighing over 31 million metric tons (tonnes), said Zhu.
--- Bright prospects thanks to convenient logistics service
Liangsong family farm in Pujiang County, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, was identified as the grape supply base for the 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit. Since then, its grapes have been widely popular among domestic consumers. Thanks to SF air freighters, overseas buyers can also have a taste of its Kyoho grapes.
Chen Qingsong is owner of the farm which exported its grapes to the Singaporean market last year. This year, his farm will export grapes to South Korea, Malaysia or other countries and regions. The export helps growers sell the grapes at a better price. For example, every kilogram of grapes sold at 16 to 20 yuan locally can experience a price increase to 30 to 40 yuan in Singapore.
In the next step, Zhejiang will encourage and guide express service providers to open international freight routes, according to Wang Deben, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Postal Administration.
The Belt and Road routes traverse the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, bringing about immense trade opportunities. As traditional trading is undergoing transformation and upgrading, cross-border e-commerce will embark on a fast track as B2C trade releases greater potential, said relevant official of the State Post Bureau.
In a bid to promote international air transport of mails, the Bureau has established green passages in Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Shanghai and other 10 cities where comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones are located. It has also worked with civil aviation, customs and other authorities to simplify the customs clearance process so as to improve delivery efficiency, the official added. (By Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
