China's digital technologies speed up global shipping, drive down costs

China is making significant strides in upgrading its international logistics services through digital technologies, resulting in a more efficient supply chain marked by faster deliveries and reduced costs.

Hangzhou, an e-commerce hub in east China's Zhejiang Province, has been at the forefront of the efforts to ensure efficient and cost-effective international logistics -- a cornerstone of cross-border fulfillment that involves fulfilling orders from a central warehouse and delivering them worldwide.

In the city's logistics centers, small-package merchandise made in China can now reach overseas customers in merely a few days after the placement of orders on e-commerce websites due to significantly reduced delivery timelines in long-haul transportation.

It is all thanks to the high efficiency of order consolidation, which refers to a process of combining multiple orders or large quantities of freight in a single shipment.

"Five parcels from different online stores can be delivered to a customer at one time. This is what we call smart order consolidation technology. With this technology, we can provide cheaper and quicker logistics services to consumers and business owners," said Xue Weiwei, who works for an express company, during an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).

The 800-plus parcel cabinets at the company's sprawling central warehouse are collectively controlled by a digital management system which contains the detailed information of every package, including its order time, destination and shipping schedule. The system helps cut down on shipping charges and avoids prolonged wait times for customers to receive their orders.

"Without adding shipping expenses, we can deliver packages to their destinations in 10 to 20 days, which used to take us 30 to 50 days. We can even deliver them in just five days to the 14 key countries and regions," said Xue.

Each day, the warehouse handles the delivery of hundreds of thousands of parcels to over 200 countries and regions, with some of them reaching their destinations in a week or even just five days, at an average shipping cost of five U.S. dollars.

Moreover, order consolidation and other digital technologies have brought down the average cost of the facility's express shipping services by 15 percent to 30 percent, depending on the packages.

"The overall operational efficiency of the entire logistics process has been boosted. With digital technologies, we can better respond to uncertainties and make better use of the resources," said Zhou Weihua, a professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the School of Management at Zhejiang University.

"In recent years, the integration of transportation resources into internet-based freight services has led to accurate matching between vehicles and cargo, improving shipping efficiency in a significant way. Compared with traditional means of freight that would cost two to three days on the road, internet-based freight can get the job done in eight to ten hours and at a cost that is about 6 percent to 8 percent lower," said Meng Xiaoyu, deputy head of the Department of Transport Services of the Ministry of Transport.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that in the first three quarters of 2024, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 1.88 trillion yuan (about 370 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 11.5 percent, which was 6.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of the country's foreign trade in the same period.

China's digital technologies speed up global shipping, drive down costs

Principal officials at the provincial and ministerial level who attended a central Party school study session have pledged to follow guidance from President Xi Jinping's speech at the opening of the session, and strive to open new horizons for reform and development.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Tuesday called for pooling strength to advance reform in a steady and sustained manner, as he addressed the senior officials attending the study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).

The session is themed on implementing the guiding principles of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which rolled out a new package of comprehensive reforms for the country.

"General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the study session profoundly summed up a series of significant achievements in comprehensively deepening reform in the new era, made clear major theoretical and practical questions in deepening reform. On the new journey, we will acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership, seek driving force from reforms, and stimulate and pool vitality through reforms," said Wu Xiaojun, governor of northwest China's Qinghai Province.

"Civil affairs departments at all levels in China will thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's new ideas, new viewpoints, and new conclusions on comprehensively deepening reform and his important instructions on civil affairs work, continuously deepen reform and innovation in the civil affairs sector, speed up the improvement of civil affairs work's system of policies and institutions, system of service guarantee, system of supervision and management, and system of social participation, while providing inclusive public services, meeting essential needs, and providing a cushion for those most in need, so as to constantly improve the people's wellbeing," said Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan.

"In advancing the work on medical insurance, we will resolutely implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, comprehensively implement the reform tasks as required by the resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and address people's health and medical concerns." said Zhang Ke, director of the National Healthcare Security Administration.

"We will achieve unity in thinking to follow through on General Secretary Xi's key ideas on reform, effectively promote and explain General Secretary Xi's new ideas, viewpoints, and conclusions on reform, and use the Party's theories to provide guidance, reinforce commitment and pool strength for reform endeavors," said Fu Hua, president of the Xinhua News Agency.

Senior officials pledge endeavor to open new horizons for reform, development