Shanghai would "capitalize on the unprecedented opportunity" to
build its logistics industry with preferential policies,
coordinated planning and investment. Hu Yanzhao, vice mayor of
Shanghai made these remarks at a conference entitled "Promoting
Shanghai's Logistics Industry" on Monday.
In the next five years the city will work to secure an annual 10
percent increase of added value for its logistics industry. This
would assist with the initial establishment of a modern logistics
system with an international competitive edge by 2010. By then
Shanghai will have obtained prime status as an international
logistics terminal and one of the Asia-Pacific hubs in this
market.
Statistics show the business of logistics has become one of
Shanghai's anchor industries. In 2005 the city became the world's
largest freight port with the volume of goods handled reaching 678
million tons -- 443 million tons of which were harbor traffic.
The city's cargo container handling capacity is ranked after
only Hong Kong and Singapore with 18.084 million boxes
of goods being moved -- an increase of 24 percent over last year's
14.56 million boxes. The added value for Shanghai's logistics
industry in 2005 was 255 billion yuan (US$31.6 billion) which
accounted for 13 percent of its total GDP or 25 percent of the
city's service industry.
Chen Haigang, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Economic
Commission, described the city as being at the point of building
itself up into a "logistics empire."
In 2006 the city is stepping-up its investment in the logistics
industry and will move to standardize various areas of the
business. It will continue with its efforts in building up an
integrated logistics facilities network involving river, rail and
marine transport. Preferential policies for the logistics
enterprises will include priority use of land resources in
industrial zones and tax concessions. In addition a number of
tax-free zones have been set up to allow for the smooth development
and growth of the industry.
To assist foreign logistics enterprises in locating their
Asian-Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, the city will focus on
developing all the services required to support the growth of the
industry.
Construction of 10 key logistics projects with a total
investment of 5 billion yuan (US$620 million), including the
Yangshan Port logistics base backed by the Oriental International
Holding, is to be accelerated.
In addition to these facilities, the city also cooperates with
the Fudan
University in personnel training and logistics research by
setting up a Logistics Research Institute.
(China.org.cn by Wind Gu, March 15, 2006)