Statistics are in order when trying to gain perspective on giant-sized logistics in that giant-sized country. In 2004, noted Zhenglin, the shipping capacity of containers in China’s ports was 616-million standardizing boxes, making it the largest in the world.
For total shipments, 84% moved by highway. “It is estimated that national highway and waterway freight volume will hit 14.9 billion tons in 2005,” continued Zhenglin, “with the ports’ volume of freight traffic expected to reach 4.6 billion tons and ports’ volume of container traffic at 750 million standardized boxes.”
China is second in terms of expressway mileage in the world, with 1.87 million km overall, which includes 34,300 km of expressways. Its coastal ports have 35,108 berths for production, which includes 944 10,000-tonnage sea berths and 123,300 km of navigable inland channels. Last year, China’s 1,430 ports and 34,000 terminals handled a combined 61.8 million TEU. It’s projected that by 2010, China’s ports will handle 140 million TEU. China is the fourth-largest owner of ships in the world, with a fleet of 210,000 vessels with cargo capacity of 86 million tonnes.
