[210314.EN.SEA] China's Logistics Cost Rises 9.3pc In 2013 to US$1.66 Trillion

THE latest report jointly released by China's National Development and Reform Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) shows that the country's notoriously high logistics industry cost increased again in 2013 to CNY10.2 trillion (US$1.66 trillion), up 9.3 per cent year on year, reported Xinhua.

However, such an increase was 2.1 percentage points slower than in 2012.

Transportation cost grew 9.2 per cent to CNY5.4 trillion. Storage cost amounted to CNY3.6 trillion, up 8.9 per cent. Management cost lifted 10.8 per cent to CNY1.3 trillion.

China's logistics cost accounts for 18 per cent in the GDP, which remained at the same level as in 2012, and was 9.5 percentage points higher than that in the US, Japan and Germany, and 6.5 percentage higher than the world's average, according to CFLP's analysis. This reflects that China's logistics industry is confronted with serious high cost problem.

Meanwhile, logistics service providers' revenues were growing at a slower pace than that of the cost, which makes them difficult to generate profit.

Last year, China's social logistics value, which means the collective value of all logistics operations, increased 9.5 per cent to CNY197.8 trillion. The growth dipped 0.3 percentage point compared to the previous year.

The total added value of logistics industry amounted to CNY3.9 trillion, up 8.5 per cent. But the growth was 0.7 percentage point slower than in 2012. Added value of the industry contributed to 6.8 per cent of the GDP and accounted for 14.8 per cent in the collective added value of the service industry.

Source : HKSG.