Page 376 - 2021 White Paper
P. 376
1 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
international air transport network," Li said. coastal ports — Shanghai, Ningbo and Xingang —
Restrictions on peak hour slots for cargo flights were clogged with refrigerated containers full of
were lifted at airports with strong cargo handling imported vegetables, fruit and frozen meat. With
capacity. International hub airports in regions many factories operating at a fraction of capacity,
with proper conditions such as Guangdong, Hong and with trucks not delivering a lot of finished
Kong, Macao, Chengdu and Chongqing provided goods, container-shipping lines canceled sailings.
24/7 customs clearance services and improve Shipping lines also had trouble replacing crews
the efficiency of security checks and clearance globally after long voyages. About one-seventh
processes. "The manufacturing sector has been of the sailors aboard the world’s commercial
the first to resume operation, and experience has vessels have Chinese passports (Bradsher and
been gained in this process. The major challenge Chokshi). Carrier capacity management in the
is about the clogged supply chains," said Li, first five months of the pandemic kept freight
adding existing airports needed to be modernized afloat, but since June 2020 rates have been driven
and better equipped with cold-chain and parcel by demand. The rapid growth of eCommerce
sorting facilities, and new airports mainly serving and peak shipping season contributed to record
freight needs should be developed (Xinhua, China freight rates that aren’t expected to drop before
to further boost). the end of the year.
Sea Cargo Rail Freight
As airfreight rates decline, ocean carriers The premium pricing and congestion at major
continue to pull capacity, pushing ocean rates hub led more shippers to consider rail from China
up. Some docks in China were clogged as early to Europe as a less expensive alternative to air
as February with arriving shipping containers for a range of goods, including clothing, paper,
or iron ore. Warehouses overflowed with goods consumer goods, electronics, and industrial
that could not be exported for lack of trucks. And components. Rail transport is up to 50% faster than
many factories are idle because components are sea freight and up to 60% cheaper than airfreight.
not reaching them. Daily charter rates for tankers Railroads have developed several routes over the
and bulk freighters plummeted more than 70% past dozen years. Initially, logistics companies
from the previous month as China bought less needed to book an entire block train, but now
oil, iron ore and coal. Ports and their customs can offer less-than-container and container-load
offices operated fairly smoothly. The difficulties options.
were in getting goods to and from the docks.
The slowdown in China in February was also felt The railroad joint venture that operates a line
in the US. Places like Jiangxi Province and the through Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia said July
metropolis of Chongqing ordered the removal of container volume of 54,200 TEU was 76% more
most of the countless roadblocks and checkpoints than a year ago and set a record. China shipments
erected by towns and cities to keep infected to Europe doubled and loaded containers from
travelers out. Shanghai agreed to let trucks enter Europe grew by 80%. For the first seven months
and leave the city with few health checks, even as of 2020, traffic was up 267%. Transit times
people arriving in cars and buses remain subject average about 15 days, depending on the origin
to lengthy scrutiny and, in some cases, 14-day and destination points. CEVA Logistics launched
quarantines. Some factories still have goods that an intermodal product that trucks shipments
they produced and never shipped in January, from China to Vietnam and loads them into high-
before the Lunar New Year holiday that turned cube containers for rail transport to Europe in
into a monthlong nationwide shutdown. Seaport early 2020. Cargo.partner, an Austrian forwarder,
cranes and other equipment seemed to be operate introduced two new weekly LCL direct connections
normally in China, although a shortage of trucks between Duisburg, Germany, and Hefei, China,
made it hard for some ports to distribute goods as well as between Linz, Austria, and Xi’an. The
once they were unloaded. Three of China’s biggest company says it expects demand to increase in
376
international air transport network," Li said. coastal ports — Shanghai, Ningbo and Xingang —
Restrictions on peak hour slots for cargo flights were clogged with refrigerated containers full of
were lifted at airports with strong cargo handling imported vegetables, fruit and frozen meat. With
capacity. International hub airports in regions many factories operating at a fraction of capacity,
with proper conditions such as Guangdong, Hong and with trucks not delivering a lot of finished
Kong, Macao, Chengdu and Chongqing provided goods, container-shipping lines canceled sailings.
24/7 customs clearance services and improve Shipping lines also had trouble replacing crews
the efficiency of security checks and clearance globally after long voyages. About one-seventh
processes. "The manufacturing sector has been of the sailors aboard the world’s commercial
the first to resume operation, and experience has vessels have Chinese passports (Bradsher and
been gained in this process. The major challenge Chokshi). Carrier capacity management in the
is about the clogged supply chains," said Li, first five months of the pandemic kept freight
adding existing airports needed to be modernized afloat, but since June 2020 rates have been driven
and better equipped with cold-chain and parcel by demand. The rapid growth of eCommerce
sorting facilities, and new airports mainly serving and peak shipping season contributed to record
freight needs should be developed (Xinhua, China freight rates that aren’t expected to drop before
to further boost). the end of the year.
Sea Cargo Rail Freight
As airfreight rates decline, ocean carriers The premium pricing and congestion at major
continue to pull capacity, pushing ocean rates hub led more shippers to consider rail from China
up. Some docks in China were clogged as early to Europe as a less expensive alternative to air
as February with arriving shipping containers for a range of goods, including clothing, paper,
or iron ore. Warehouses overflowed with goods consumer goods, electronics, and industrial
that could not be exported for lack of trucks. And components. Rail transport is up to 50% faster than
many factories are idle because components are sea freight and up to 60% cheaper than airfreight.
not reaching them. Daily charter rates for tankers Railroads have developed several routes over the
and bulk freighters plummeted more than 70% past dozen years. Initially, logistics companies
from the previous month as China bought less needed to book an entire block train, but now
oil, iron ore and coal. Ports and their customs can offer less-than-container and container-load
offices operated fairly smoothly. The difficulties options.
were in getting goods to and from the docks.
The slowdown in China in February was also felt The railroad joint venture that operates a line
in the US. Places like Jiangxi Province and the through Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia said July
metropolis of Chongqing ordered the removal of container volume of 54,200 TEU was 76% more
most of the countless roadblocks and checkpoints than a year ago and set a record. China shipments
erected by towns and cities to keep infected to Europe doubled and loaded containers from
travelers out. Shanghai agreed to let trucks enter Europe grew by 80%. For the first seven months
and leave the city with few health checks, even as of 2020, traffic was up 267%. Transit times
people arriving in cars and buses remain subject average about 15 days, depending on the origin
to lengthy scrutiny and, in some cases, 14-day and destination points. CEVA Logistics launched
quarantines. Some factories still have goods that an intermodal product that trucks shipments
they produced and never shipped in January, from China to Vietnam and loads them into high-
before the Lunar New Year holiday that turned cube containers for rail transport to Europe in
into a monthlong nationwide shutdown. Seaport early 2020. Cargo.partner, an Austrian forwarder,
cranes and other equipment seemed to be operate introduced two new weekly LCL direct connections
normally in China, although a shortage of trucks between Duisburg, Germany, and Hefei, China,
made it hard for some ports to distribute goods as well as between Linz, Austria, and Xi’an. The
once they were unloaded. Three of China’s biggest company says it expects demand to increase in
376
