China's logistics industry registered improvements in July, as growth accelerated, service prices edged higher, and infrastructure investment maintained an expansion momentum, official data showed on Tuesday.
In the month, new orders received by the logistics industry increased at a faster pace, with the sub-index of new orders climbing to 52.5, up 0.1 percentage point from June. Growth was the strongest in the eastern and western regions, while the central region saw a slight dip due to heavy rainfall and prolonged heat.
All logistics sub-sectors except warehousing and water transportation reported expansion in new orders in July.
The sub-index for logistics service prices edged higher in July.
Supported by expanding business and stable service prices, logistics companies saw the profit index for core business operations rise by 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, and their capital turnover rate up 0.2 percentage point from June.
The capital turnover rate of the railway, air transport, and express delivery industries remained in the expansion zone in the month.
In July, investment in logistics infrastructure continued its upward trajectory, with the fixed asset investment completion index remaining in the expansion zone for five consecutive months.
The logistics industry's fixed asset investment index reached 54.9 in July, up 0.4 percentage point from a month earlier.
"A significant portion of investment to implement major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas is directed toward infrastructure projects in logistics, including multimodal transport systems and logistics hubs, and also covering the development of digital infrastructure facilities, such as information platforms essential for the industry's future transformation. The construction of such infrastructure facilities lays the foundation for the logistics sector to deliver better services in future," said Liu Yuhang, director of China Logistics Information Center.
In the month, market expectations remained high, with the business activity expectation index standing at 55.6.
The air transport and express delivery sectors led the outlook, with their business activity expectation indices posting 58.9 and 57.2, respectively.
Enterprise surveys conducted in the month also indicated strong confidence in air transport, high-end industrial logistics and cross-border logistics.
China's logistics sector expands in July on strong orders, investment
