9月15日早间英文播报：Logistics system upgrade to help boost quality growth

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Workers load the cross-border e-commercepackages, at Huanghua International Airport in Changsha, Hunan province, on May28, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

The central government's recent decision toconstruct a modern logistics system to support the dual circulation developmentpattern would guide infrastructure investment into high-efficiencytransportation including airports and high-speed railway development, expertssaid.

They said a modern and efficient logisticssystem will help provide strong market dynamism for balancing supply anddemand, industrial upgrading, improving economic efficiency and fosteringhigh-quality development in the country.

Feng Tianjun, a professor at FudanUniversity's School of Management in Shanghai, said it was of greatsignificance for the meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and EconomicAffairs to make the decision on developing the modern logistics system onWednesday.

"Building a modern logistics systemwith enhanced cargo capacity on high-speed railways and international flightswill drive infrastructure investment in airports and high-speed railways, aswell as other transportation solutions."

The decision came as the country faces agrim and complicated economic situation both at home and abroad and istransitioning from a phase of rapid development to a new stage of high-qualitydevelopment.

"Logistics is a basic, strategic andguiding industry that supports the development of the national economy,"the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner,said in a statement last week. "We are in need of a well-developedlogistics system to help create a strong domestic market and build a moderneconomic system."

Wang Yong, a visiting professor at the KTHRoyal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, said China has entered acrucial phase in which the country needs to upgrade its logistics system.

"The modern logistics system is animportant carrier connecting consumers and producers, as well as a key part ofChina's domestic market. And it also provides strong support to build a newmodel of development in which the domestic economic network takes the primaryrole, with the domestic and international economic networks complementing eachother.

"In the battle against the COVID-19outbreak, China's logistics system has withstood the test of pressure and time.However, problems remain such as insufficient supply and the relatively lowlevel of development," he added.

Wang said more efforts are needed to expandthe effective supply in the logistics market, boost infrastructure development,promote information application and big data development in the logisticsfield, develop smart logistics and distribution, drive innovation in the supplychain and improve standards and the regulatory system.

"Logistics is the precondition fordistribution, and modern logistics cannot make efficient deliveries withoutinfrastructure such as airports," said Feng at Fudan University.

According to Feng, airports are thefundamentals for high-efficiency logistics, as "it is the sufficientnumber of airports and the strong aviation network that have enabled FedEx toreach its scale to date".

China's leading logistics firms SF Expressand YTO Express have already recognized the significance of infrastructure, andmade great investment in air cargo distribution centers to gain a bigger shareof domestic and overseas markets.

The nation's first freight airport is beingbuilt by SF Express in Ezhou, Hubei province. The logistics hub is expected tocome into operation by the end of 2021, according to Ren Hong, an official atthe National Development and Reform Commission.

Shanghai YTO Dragon Investment Development(Group) Co Ltd, the parent company of YTO Express, is also planning to build aninternational aviation logistics hub in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. The hub,which will involve a total investment of 6.61 billion yuan ($970 million), isexpected to have an annual freight handling capacity of 2.4 million tons by2050.

Eastern Air Logistics Co, the freight unitof China Eastern Airlines, is developing in line with the Chinese people'supgraded consumption requirements, which sees a greater role for high-qualityproducts, fresh goods, cross-border e-commerce and high-end manufacturing.

With state-of-the-art technology, thecompany aims to become a key player in the logistics sector and the supplychain.

Yu Zhanfu, partner and vice-president forChina at consultancy Roland Berger, sees broad opportunities for innovating andupgrading the Chinese logistics network safely and efficiently and connectingboth the internal and external markets.

One of the investment opportunities comesfrom increased digitalization. The participation of technology companies in thelogistics industry could reform, affect or even replace the conventionallogistics system, said Yu.

Likewise, high-speed railways are anirreplaceable part of multimodal transport, together with sea, road and airtransport, and the preferable choice for quality express delivery, said Feng.

Qi Qi, an associate professor at GuangzhouCivil Aviation College, said the COVID-19 outbreak highlighted the importanceof logistics during a public health emergency.

"During this critical time, we foundthere is an urgent need for improvements to the transportation infrastructure,namely insufficient air cargo capacity, a shortage of specialized freightairports, the lack of international standard large logistics companies, lessefficient multimodal transport, and a deficiency in emergency logistics,"Qi said.

Qi looked forward to concrete plans beingworked out in accordance with the nation's overall development of a moderndistribution system, with specific projects designed to strengthen China'soverall logistics sector and the supply chain.

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记者：王颖、欧阳诗嘉

播报：OwenFishwick

原文链接：

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202009/14/WS5f5ea3ada310f55b25a82365.html