China’s logistics industry sees a rebound in 2023
According to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, China’s logistics industry is set to rebound in 2023, with a projected total social logistics volume of 352.4 trillion yuan, marking a 5.2% year-on-year increase based on comparable prices. This growth rate is 1.8 percentage points higher than that of 2022.
Throughout the year, the first, second, third, and fourth quarters saw sequential growth of 3.9%, 5.4%, 4.7%, and 5.4%, respectively, indicating a steady recovery trend. The overall momentum of the industry throughout the year has been positive.
Notably, operational efficiency has continued to improve, and unit costs have stabilized and declined. The ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP decreased to 14.4%, a 0.3 percentage point decrease from the previous year.
The logistics environment in China is also expected to continue to improve, with the recovery of market demand accelerating and new drivers such as high-end manufacturing and online consumption rebounding significantly. Infrastructure support for logistics has also been enhanced, with the construction of 30 new national logistics hubs throughout the year.
From an industrial perspective, equipment manufacturing logistics experienced a strong recovery, outpacing the growth rate of all industrial logistics. Additionally, new formats such as e-commerce logistics and online services maintained rapid growth, with the average value of the e-commerce logistics index reaching 110.1 points for the whole year.
The proportion of the service industry in the logistics sector also rebounded to 54.6%, indicating significant growth and optimization in the economic structure and upgrade.
The positive outlook for China’s logistics industry in 2023 reflects the ongoing recovery and improvement in the country’s logistics landscape, with continued growth and efficiency gains expected in the year ahead.