China's logistics sector continued steady expansion in June, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Wednesday.
The index tracking the country's logistics market was 50.8 percent in June, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, according to data from the federation.
A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion while a reading below reflects contraction.
Breaking down the data, the total business volume index stayed in the expansion range for four consecutive months.
In terms of regions, the total business volume index in the central and western regions exceeded the national level.
In terms of industries, the total business volume index of road transportation, railway transportation, air transportation and postal express delivery all stood in the expansion zone.
Driven by online shopping and seasonal demand for fresh cold-chain products, the total business volume indexes of postal express delivery and air transportation reached 69.3 percent and 52 percent, respectively, showing significant expansion.
"In the first half of this year, logistics demand maintained a steady recovery, particularly in the consumer sector. The timeliness and fulfillment rates of e-commerce logistics services went up step by step, supporting the entire e-commerce industry's growth in logistics demand for fresh agricultural and sideline products," said Liu Yuhang, director of China Logistics Information Center.
Logistics development in June demonstrated distinct seasonal characteristics, according to experts.
Coal transportation demand remained strong to ensure power supply during the peak summer season, and trade-in programs boosted orders for home appliances, computer, communication, and consumer electronics products. The summer travel season further drove robust demand for cultural tourism, e-commerce, and outdoor goods.
Data showed that sectors of railway transportation, road transportation, and e-commerce logistics all maintained a recovery trend.
China's logistics sector performs better in June
Smart technologies have reshaped China's ecological and environmental monitoring system, Huang Runqiu, minister of Ecology and Environment, said Thursday in Beijing on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress(NPC).
"Regarding ecological and environmental monitoring, we have been promoting the digitalization, informatization, and intelligentization of the entire monitoring process in recent years, reshaping the ecological and environmental monitoring system. For instance, in water environment monitoring and sampling, we have used intelligent drones which can quickly locate sampling points, collect samples accurately, return rapidly, and they are safe and reliable, improving work efficiency by over 70 percent. They are particularly advantageous for sampling during flood seasons and in remote areas," Huang told the press.
"In terms of environmental sample analysis, we have developed 'lights-out laboratories' in recent years. As the name suggests, these labs operate without lights and are unattended. Through robotic arms, robots, and intelligent management systems, they achieve full-process automation and intelligence from sample handover, testing, and analysis to report generation. This has significantly enhanced work efficiency, increasing it by more than eightfold compared to traditional labs. More importantly, it reduces human interference, human error, and even data falsification," he said.
Thanks to the improved ecological and environmental supervision capabilities, the number of environmental violation cases nationwide has decreased from 130,000 five years ago to 43,000 last year, representing a decline of 68 percent, Huang said.
The minister said China has already applied environmental DNA technology in the biodiversity monitoring work.
"In the field of biodiversity monitoring, monitoring aquatic organisms remains a weak point. However, significant progress has been made in recent years as we have developed environmental DNA technology. Although this chip is very small in size, it contains DNA detection information for aquatic organisms, including the finless porpoise and the Chinese sucker, from 19 state-controlled sections in the Jiangsu segment of the Yangtze River. The results showed that over the past five years, more than 20 species of aquatic organisms have increased in this river section, fully demonstrating the tangible effectiveness of the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River," Huang said while showing a chip to reporters.
The 14th NPC, China's national legislature, concluded its fourth session on Thursday.
Smart technologies reshape China's ecological, environmental monitoring system: minister
