China's cold-chain logistics demand maintained steady growth in the first three quarters of the year, driving the recovery of the sector in both total volume and revenue, according to the data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Friday.
From January to September, the total demand for cold-chain logistics reached 304 million tons, an increase of 4.7 percent year on year, data showed.
In the period, China's domestic market for cold-chain logistics rose by 4.2 percent year on year to 6.4 trillion yuan (about 885 billion U.S. dollars), and the total revenue of the sector rose by 3.6 percent year on year to 417.8 billion yuan (about 57.75 billion U.S. dollars), according to the CFLP.
The federation attributes the growth to the surge in fresh produce and catering consumption since the third quarter and the thriving fresh food e-commerce.
"Both the market size and revenue of cold-chain logistics picked up, thanks mainly to a peak season of agricultural products consumption since the third quarter, particularly the surge in catering consumption. Another contributor is the fast development of fresh food e-commerce, which saw double-digit growth in online sales. All these have driven the rapid growth in cold-chain logistics," said Cui Zhongfu, vice president and secretary-general of the CFLP.
In the first three quarters, the nationwide online sales of fruits surged by 11.94 percent year on year, with the growth rate of fresh fruits reaching 18.23 percent year on year.
China’s cold-chain logistics market maintains steady growth in first three quarters
