Article source: Economic Daily

The level of social logistics costs is a concentrated reflection of the quality of national economic development and comprehensive competitiveness. The recent executive meeting of the State Council pointed out the need to continue promoting logistics cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement, and accelerate the construction of a modern logistics system that is adapted to supply and demand, connected internally and externally, safe, efficient, intelligent, and green.

At present, China has built the world's largest postal and express delivery network, and the logistics industry market size is expected to rank first in the world for 10 consecutive years. Behind the smooth flow of goods, the logistics costs of the whole society have also maintained a steady downward trend. In the first half of the year, the ratio of total social logistics expenses to GDP dropped to 14%, a decrease of 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively from the first quarter and the same period last year, further improving the efficiency of logistics operations.

The steady decrease in logistics costs has injected strong impetus into the expansion of the demand side of the logistics industry. In September, the new order index of railway transportation industry, road transportation industry, air transportation industry, multimodal transport industry, and postal express industry all rebounded by more than 0.5 percentage points month on month. Taking the postal and express delivery industry as an example, in the first three quarters of this year, the cumulative volume of express delivery business in China reached 145.08 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 17.2%. The accelerated delivery packages are a vivid footnote to the accelerated construction of the unified national market.

It should also be noted that the low cost of a single link and the high operating cost of the entire chain are still prominent contradictions in logistics operations. According to the Action Plan for Effectively Reducing Logistics Costs in the Whole Society, by 2027, the ratio of total social logistics costs to gross domestic product will strive to be reduced to around 13.5%. This also enlightens us that effectively reducing the logistics costs of the whole society involves improving the overall efficiency of the national economy, which will not be achieved overnight. It needs to be promoted comprehensively and solved through development methods.

Improving supply capacity is an important guarantee for enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of the logistics industry. Looking at internationally renowned logistics companies, they are all deeply embedded in the industrial and supply chains. Currently, the upgrading of industries and consumption in China has put forward new and higher requirements for the quality of logistics supply. Express logistics enterprises need to expand and extend their logistics service chain, deepen industrial connections, increase high-quality supply, continuously innovate and break through in technology, products, services and other fields, achieve full industry linkage, and jointly promote China's industry to move towards the high-end of the global value chain. Pay attention to the connection between modern delivery logistics system and national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network construction, improve conversion efficiency, and form an efficient operation system of cross mode and cross regional sharing and mutual recognition of "one order to the end".

To promote cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in logistics, it is inseparable from the construction of a unified, efficient, and competitive logistics market, as well as a suitable policy environment. Currently, the proportion of multimodal transportation in China has greatly increased, but there is still a significant gap compared to foreign countries, with institutional barriers and regulatory constraints being obstacles. Relevant departments and localities should work together to strengthen policy and factor support, and ensure the demand for land and sea for the construction of railway dedicated lines and belt corridors. For example, implementing railway dedicated lines for "entering port areas, factory areas, and industrial parks" to connect the "last mile" of railway transportation. Promote the "one unit system" for multimodal transportation, develop the "one container system" for container transportation, and continuously expand the pilot demonstration effect. (Jin Guanping)