China’s logistics sector sees all-round recovery in January-October

China's logistics sector posed comprehensive recovery in various fields and links in the first 10 months of the year, according to the latest official data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Friday.

From January to October, China's social logistics reached 287.8 trillion yuan (about 39.8 trillion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 5.7 percent, according to the data.

The total revenue of the sector rose by 3.8 percent year on year to 11.3 trillion yuan (about 1.56 trillion U.S. dollars) in the 10-month period, the data showed.

"Based on the various logistics indexes available in October, we can see the recovery of the logistics sector is extending to more industries and links. So, it's picking up on a full scale," said Liu Yuhang, director of China Logistics Information Center.

Specifically, the basic service fields such as rail transport, road transport, loading and unloading maintained stable operations in October, with their business volume indexes all above the 50 percent threshold and on the rise over the previous month.

The air transport industry launched 18 new international freight routes in October. With over 30 additional inbound and outbound flights operated per week, the total volume of air cargo and mail rose by 19.9 percent year on year in the month.

Driven by policies and subsidies to encourage consumer goods trade-ins, the e-commerce logistics index rose to an annual high of 115 in October. A total of 16.31 billion parcels were handled in the month, up 24 percent year on year.

"At present, China already has more than 10,000 class-A logistics enterprises. As they continue to develop, logistics services have become more and more specialized and efficient," said Jiang Xu, dean of School of Logistics at Beijing Wuzi University.

Based on survey results, the operating revenue of key logistics enterprises in the first 10 months increased by 4.8 percent year on year.

It is worth noting that due to factors such as rising raw material prices and increase in the number of service workers, the growth in operating costs of logistics enterprises accelerated in October, so their profit growth has slowed down.

The cost of key logistics enterprises per 100 yuan (13.8 U.S. dollars) of operating revenue from January to October increased by 0.4 yuan (5.5 U.S. cents) compared with that in the January-September period, the data showed.

However, logistics enterprises generally remained optimistic about their overall performances of the year. The business activity expectation index reached 57.7 percent in October, rising for the third consecutive month.

"The market expectations have further improved. Especially, the intensified implementation of incremental policies has boosted the recovery of the entire market. Besides, based on the operation of the logistics market in the past few months, the internal driving forces of the market have also further strengthened," said Cai Jin, vice president of the CFLP.

China’s logistics sector sees all-round recovery in January-October

All residents of the two hardest-hit villages in the earthquake-stricken Baqen County of Nagqu City in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region have been properly resettled, with hot meals and heating available at their shelters.

At one resettlement site, more than 200 residents from a village in Maru Town have been housed.

The village that sits closest to the epicenter has seen many one- and two-story buildings suffering severe internal damages and becoming unsafe to live in.

A food supply point set up by the Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers has been providing fresh hot meals and drinking water to affected residents at the resettlement site since Friday.

Many restaurant owners from nearby towns also came to the site early Saturday morning to provide breakfast for the affected residents.

In addition, firefighters went deep into the disaster area on Saturday morning to search for and retrieve valuables for the villagers.

In another hardest-hit village, relocation and resettlement have also been fully completed, with meals, quilts and other heating supplies provided at their shelters.

Since the quake, more than 5,000 personnel have been deployed to the front lines of the disaster relief operation, working in teams for search and rescue, medical treatment, temporary shelter and essential supplies.

After three rounds of comprehensive door-to-door checks, no missing persons had been reported as of 18:00 Friday, according to the emergency command headquarters.

The quake was strong, shallow and widely felt. In the epicenter's core area, some houses collapsed and power and communication facilities were damaged.

Local authorities have launched round-the-clock monitoring and emergency repairs at key sites including mountains, reservoirs, power stations, river channels, dilapidated buildings and communication base stations.

Communication services in Baqen County have now returned to pre-quake levels.

According to a geological hazard risk assessment of the quake zone by the China Aero Geophysical Survey and Remote Sensing Center for Natural Resources, preliminary findings suggest a relatively low risk of large-scale collapses and landslides in the area.

Worst-hit villagers in Xizang earthquake properly resettled