China's logistics sector maintained steady growth in the first five months of the year, with accelerating shifts between old and new growth drivers and continued structural upgrades, industry data showed on Sunday.
China's social logistics totaled 146.6 trillion yuan (about 21.56 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-May period, up 5.2 percent year on year, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).
Industrial product logistics rose 5.4 percent during the period, with clear divergences across sectors, the CFLP data showed.
According to the data, during the same period, traditional resource-based segments such as mining and non-metallic mineral products continued to see weak demand, while logistics in high-end manufacturing sustained relatively fast growth amid faster cultivation of new quality productive forces.
In May, logistics demand related to high-tech manufacturing grew 15.1 percent year on year, and equipment manufacturing-related logistics demand rose 9.5 percent, both accelerating from the previous month.
"Looking at the overall demand structure, we see steady growth in scale alongside an accelerating shift from old to new drivers. Demand in high-value-added and emerging sectors is growing faster than that in traditional areas, making it the primary engine driving overall logistics growth," said Liu Yuhang, director of China Logistics Information Center.
In the first five months, import logistics growth moderated, though the product structure continued its shift toward higher-end goods, the data showed.
Volumes of intermediate inputs for high-end manufacturing, including integrated circuits and semiconductor devices, held up well, underscoring the resilience of import demand tied to industrial upgrading.
In the same period, the total value of renewable resources logistics grew 5.4 percent year on year, outpacing the overall logistics growth rate by 0.2 percentage points, the data showed.
Logistics demand from the circular economy continued to pick up, with steady expansion in sub-sectors including power battery recycling and industrial solid waste utilization.
In May, logistics volumes for green products saw strong growth, with lithium-ion batteries up 40 percent, bio-based chemical fibers up 18.1 percent, and carbon fiber and composite materials up 13.4 percent year on year.
A multi-faceted growth pattern is emerging, with logistics demand increasingly supported by both low-carbon manufacturing and renewable resource recycling.
"The first five months of this year saw steady logistics demand growth, improved supply quality and efficiency, and continued progress in the sector's overall quality upgrade. Industrial upgrading has increasingly become a key driver in reshaping and optimizing the logistics structure," said He Hui, vice president of the CFLP.
China's logistics sector up 5.2 pct in Jan-May period
