Research and Markets: China Logistics Development Report 2010: Restructuring, Policy Changes and Hinterland Infrastructure Investment to Radically Alter Logistics Landscape

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/aef940/china_logistics_de) has announced the addition of the "China Logistics Development Report 2010: Restructuring, Policy Changes and Hinterland Infrastructure Investment to Radically Alter Logistics Landscape" report to their offering.

2008-9 represented difficult years for China's logistics industry as the global financial crisis of the developed world led China's export-oriented economy to slow.

Nevertheless, China's logistics industry retained growth figures that remain the envy of the world. However, in recognition of the problems Beijing has invested vast sums of money into improving China's transport infrastructure through projects such as the country's planned high-speed rail network. New airports, container terminals, and expressways -- coupled with legislative initiatives like the Fuel Tax Law -- will also help streamline and modernise China's logistics industry.

Beijing has also capitalised on the recent slowdown in international trade to implement wide ranging structural reform of the logistics industry in an effort to force the industry into a sustained period of merger and acquisition activity, in an attempt to forge a fully national industry capable of competing head on, on a global level. Providing cheap credit and tax breaks, Beijing hopes to give its domestic logistics players the head start they need to mop up the excess capacity and wasteful under-agglomeration that they perceive as holding the nation's logistic industry back.

This, coupled with massive investments in hinterland infrastructure designed to tie the country together as a single unified economy, form the backbone of the Logistics Restructuring and Revitalisation Plan and present numerous opportunities and challenges for all those with a vested interest in the China logistics market.

With the central government laying out the overall structure of the plan, much of the specifics will fall to local cities and provinces for specific finalisation and implementation. Creating a need for high level skills and consulting services as implementation progresses.

In the air freight sector most carriers, as well as shippers, appear confident that 2010 will represent a general stabilisation of overall demand and return to 2008 volumes. Most believe that this demand is likely to take the shape of mini-troughs and mini-peaks, due to the continued unpredictability of demand. Added to this, China's investment in airport infrastructure development will be enormous. According to a plan formulated in 2008, the country intends to spend more on airport infrastructure development over the next five years than the entirety of its airport investment program since the start of the reform era, a figure likely to approach USD 20 bn by 2013.

In the road haulage sector, passage of a new fuel tax law has been met with mixed reactions. In addition, fluctuating fuel prices, the financial crisis and the fractional margins endemic in the sector have forced many firms out of business.

In the long term, despite recent difficulties, the express delivery market in China promises only to expand, buoyed by the phenomenal growth of the nascent e-commerce industry. The establishment of the China Express Association, a non-profit association aiming to bridge the gap between companies and the central government, indicates the vital importance of express delivery in China's logistics outlook.

Container throughput fell 6 percent to 121m on year as the global economic slowdown curtailed Chinese economic activity in the beginning of the year. Though throughput activity intensified in the latter months of the year, overall numbers still represented the first drop since the reform and opening period began in the late 1970s. Despite these figures, forecasters are optimistic that growth figures will be positive in 2010. Most projections place throughput growth at 2 percent, which would bring overall TEU numbers to 125m.

About the China Logistics Development Report 2010

The China Logistics Development Report 2010, produced by China Intelligence Online, contains data, information and analysis essential for a thorough understanding of the world's most dynamic logistics market.

The report includes:

• Up-to-date analysis of the Logistics Stimulus Package, Fuel Tax Law, and other government measures that directly affect China's logistics industry
• Comprehensive coverage of infrastructure development across several transport modes including China's high-speed rail network.
• Thorough survey of China's express-delivery market as well as one of China's most dynamic new sectors: e-commerce.
• Coverage not only of China's developed coastal regions but also of the inland regions that represent the real opportunities in the coming decades.
• The statistical data essential to measuring developments in the world's most dynamic logistics industry.

Much analysis of China's logistics network focuses on the more-established coastal provinces, and for good reason. China's coastal provinces have dominated the national economy since the reform and opening period began in the late 1970s.

However, with the Go West programme entering its second decade China's inland provinces have established themselves as crucial cogs in China's logistics apparatus and are now the focus of massive levels of infrastructure and logistics investment which the government sees as crucial to raising living standards in the vast hinterland.

Cities like Chengdu, Chongqing and Kunming have become hot-spots of infrastructure development as well as major centres of research and development. These inland border regions have also established closer ties with countries on China's periphery, creating nascent trade opportunities that may wean China away from its dependence on overseas trade partners.

CIOs China Logistics Development Report 2010 examines China's inland regions closely and identifies trends that those focused on only Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou ignore at their peril.

The China Logistics Development Report 2010 more than simply summarises the status of China's main transport and logistics sectors. The report also reveals the trends that will guide each sector in 2010 and beyond. Sectors discussed in detail include:

• Rail
• Container Ports
• Bulk
• E-Commerce
• Express Delivery
• Road
• Air
• Hinterland Infrastructure

China Intelligence Online's China Logistics Development Report 2010 provides the data, information, and analysis crucial to understanding the logistics market in one of the world's most vital economies. This report is indispensable to those involved with logistics, transport, finance, trade, and a host of other industries.

China's dynamism can challenge those seeking a clear, comprehensive picture of the country's economy. China Intelligence Online's team of researchers and analysts has the experience and expertise needed provide the information you demand. CLDR also contains over 150 pages of supply chain infrastructure listings including logistics parks, special processing zones, bonded warehouses, government contacts, 3PLs and logistics providers across 39 cities in China.

Key Topics Covered:

• Industry Snapshot
• Executive Summary
• China Logistics Industry
• The Geography Of China's Economic Environment
• Air Transport
• Road Transport
• Express Delivery Sector
• E-Commerce Logistics Demand
• Overview Of China Port Development
• Container Ports And International Trade
• The Rail Sector
• Warehousing
• Appendix
• Regional Overview
• Disclaimer

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/aef940/china_logistics_de