Trucking in China's Logistics Sector

Abstract

While China has many large, modern and efficient ports—led by those of Shanghai and Shenzen, the third and fourth largest ports in the world—its logistics system as a whole ranks only 27th, according to the most recent World Bank analysis. China spends twice as large a share of its gross domestic product on logistics than does the United States, which is 14th in the World Bank index. In February 2009, China’s State Council executive meeting acknowledged the problem when it identified the construction of logistics infrastructure and the merger and reorganization of logistics enterprises as key development priorities. China’s chaotic trucking industry is at the heart of the problem.