China's e-commerce logistics sector showed robust growth and enhanced efficiency in March, driven by technological advancements and streamlined processes, showed the data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing on Tuesday.
Sub-indexes for the logistics timeliness and contract fulfillment rates went up by 2.5 points and 0.8 points, respectively, from the previous month, according to the data.
The data also showed that inventory turnover rates accelerated, with a month-on-month increase of 0.5 points.
Technological innovations played a pivotal role in the growth.
At an industrial park in Changzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, smart assembly lines and intelligent shelving systems have enhanced goods management and shipping frequency control by 10 percent.
In addition, smart warehousing technologies have enhanced the speed and accessibility of cross-border e-commerce goods.
In Weihai, a city in east China's Shandong Province, cross-border products stored in a bonded warehouse could be cleared and delivered to consumers in a day, thanks to improvements in logistics systems.
"The e-commerce logistics companies in our country are leading the industry in technological investment and the application of automatic and unmanned equipment," said Liu Yuhang, director of the China Logistics Information Center.
The policies rolled out by the government to reduce logistics costs have also eased the burden on e-commerce logistics companies, with the e-commerce logistics cost index for March dropping by 1.3 points, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline.
China's e-commerce logistics sector shows robust growth, enhanced efficiency in March
China's e-commerce logistics sector shows robust growth, enhanced efficiency in March
The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City, was forced to shut down as its key medical infrastructure had been damaged in an Israeli airstrike early on Sunday.
The hospital buildings sustained severe damage in the Israeli airstrike. While local medical and civil defense personnel are working to clear the debris and perform emergency repairs, it remains difficult for the hospital to resume operations in the short term.
This marks the third time the hospital has been targeted. In the early weeks of the Israeli war, the hospital was hit massively, leading to the death of almost 500 displaced Palestinians.
"Israel's direct attack on the hospital completely violated international law and ethical standards. This hospital is world-renowned, with doctors, refugees, journalists, and even foreign delegations stationed here, yet the Israeli army insisted on bombing this area," said Munir Al-Barsh, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
After the airstrike, 50 patients from the hospital were transferred to other facilities, but 40 others who are critically ill cannot be transferred. Muhammad Abu Nasser, who was injured in an explosion shortly after the outbreak of the latest round of the Palestine-Israel conflict in October 2023, had steel nails implanted in both of his legs.
He requires to undergo numerous surgeries, and he is still unable to walk now. Following the airstrike, he was temporarily placed near the hospital, awaiting transfer to another facility.
"I was in the surgical ward when the attack occurred. The blast left patients, doctors, and everyone in the hospital terrified. The hospital should have been a safe haven, but now almost no hospital in Gaza is fully operational. Where can we go now?" Nasser said.
The health authorities in Gaza reported on Tuesday that the Palestinian death toll since the start of the conflict on October 7, 2023 had reached 51,000, with 116,343 wounded. They said at least 17 people were killed and 69 others injured over the past 24 hours.
Gaza’s last fully functional hospital forced to cease operations after Israeli airstrike
