China's logistics sector logs steady growth in Q1

China

China's logistics sector logs steady growth in Q1

2025-04-29 10:10 Last Updated At：15:27

China's total logistics volume in the first quarter of this year reached 91 trillion yuan (about 12.74 trillion U.S. dollars), a 5.7-percent increase year on year, accelerating by 0.4 percentage points compared to the January-February period and highlighting a solid start of the sector this year, according to the data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Tuesday.

The overall structure of logistic demand has improved, with new growth drivers gradually emerging.

Logistics of industrial goods grew by 5.9 percent year on year, accounting for over 80 percent of the total logistics volume, maintaining its position as the main engine of growth in demand, the data showed.

"The logistics demand for industrial products, particularly in high-tech manufacturing sectors and new growth drivers such as new energy vehicles, smart manufacturing, and photovoltaic devices, has been growing at a relatively fast pace," said Liu Yuhang, director of the China Logistics Information Center.

The impact of government policies has continued to support logistics demand.

Large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-ins of consumer goods have helped sustain the growth.

In the first quarter, logistics demand for general and specialized equipment went up 9.4 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, while demand for consumer goods like communication equipment, home appliances and audiovisual products, and furniture shot up by 26.9 percent, 19.3 percent, and 18.1 percent, respectively.

Emerging e-commerce models such as instant-delivery online retail and live-streaming sales have kept strong momentum.

In the first quarter, online retail sales of physical goods rose by 5.7 percent year on year, with a 0.7-percentage-point increase compared to the January-February period. "New business models have continued to gain momentum, driving steady growth in logistics demand. The logistics network in both urban and rural areas has been further improved, unlocking the vast potential of the rural market," said Peng Chun, deputy dean of the Department of Logistics Management at Beijing Jiaotong University.

US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar

The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.

On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.

"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.

Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.

"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.