China's logistics industry has dipped in February due to holiday season, with businesses posting optimistic market expectations, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Monday.
The logistics industry prosperity index stood at 47.5 percent in February, down 3.7 percentage points from the previous month, as the nine-day Spring Festival holiday that began on Feb 15 resulted in a significant reduction in effective working days.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction.
The business activity expectation index for February was 51 percent, remaining within the expansionary range, according to the CFLP. Meanwhile, activity levels across regions are gradually recovering, starting with the central and eastern regions and then moving to the western regions. The supply chain and logistics demand sectors across the upstream and downstream have resumed operations in an orderly manner after holiday, and production capacity in commodities, metallurgy and chemicals, and equipment manufacturing has steadily recovered.
Orders for cross-border e-commerce, express delivery, and instant delivery have rebounded rapidly. Promotional activities for furniture, home appliances, and passenger vehicles have effectively supported the growth in logistics demand.
China's logistics sector dips in February due to holiday season
Hungary recorded its hottest month in history this August amid severe drought, while France officially confirmed its summer of 2026 as the hottest on record, meteorological agencies and officials said.
Data released by the Hungarian National Meteorological Service on Wednesday showed the national average temperature reached 24.9 degrees Celsius, making it both the hottest August and the hottest month recorded in Hungary since 1901.
The record-breaking heat was compounded by an intensifying drought.
Hungary's nationwide average precipitation for the month plummeted to just 15.6 millimeters, vastly below the 1991-2020 August average of 59.5 millimeters.
This historic scarcity of rainfall set a new low, marking it the fourth-driest August nationwide since 1901.
Meanwhile, French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut said on Thursday that the summer of 2026 was the "hottest summer on record" in the country since national measurements began in 1900.
The announcement came during the release of the official Summer 2026 Climate Assessment Report compiled by the national weather service Meteo-France.
In light of the mounting climate crisis, Barbut emphasized the urgent need to bolster national climate resilience.
She said that she will present a comprehensive multi-year investment framework to Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu in the coming days to address long-term adaptation strategies.
Hungary records hottest month, France confirms record-breaking summer
