Auto & Transportation

As China's express business has entered the stage of stock competition, sea going has become the "blue ocean" that almost all mainstream express enterprises have seized. Since 2022, many express enterprises have made efforts overseas. Shunfeng Express, Cainiao Network, Zhongtong Express and other enterprises have focused on the "main battlefield" in Southeast Asia. At the same time, the expansion of international trade markets in Brazil, the Middle East and other regions is also accelerating.

Experts pointed out that the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce will continue to increase export demand in the future. China's express industry can seize the opportunity of the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce, connect with international logistics resources, and accelerate its position in the international trade market.

Seeking for sea going, express enterprises seek new growth points

In February 2022, Thailand Zhongtong began trial operation in the Bangkok transfer center, and the express business throughout Thailand was officially launched. In the same year, the local business was launched in Malaysia; In February, Polar Rabbit announced that it had officially entered the Latin American market and successfully launched its operations in Mexico. During the World Cup, Polar Rabbit also announced that football superstar Messi was its first global brand spokesperson; On November 14, Cainiao released the three-year development plan of Brazil for the first time. At present, Cainiao's express network covers more than 1000 cities throughout Brazil, and it can be delivered from 2 to 3 days on average after local orders are placed. Core cities such as Sao Paulo can be reached the next day; On December 1, Baishi announced the launch of the express network in Malaysia; On December 21, Yuantong Express International announced at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its Chinese name had been changed from "Yuantong Express (International) Holding Co., Ltd." to "Yuantong International Express Supply Chain Technology Co., Ltd."... In the past year, various logistics enterprises "rubbed their hands" and accelerated the pace of going to sea.

"Going to sea is the only way for express delivery enterprises to move towards integrated logistics enterprises. Looking at the development history of global express giants, after having a certain leading position in the domestic market, expanding the international trade market is conducive to expanding the business market area, achieving the balance between domestic and foreign businesses, reducing the risk of relying solely on domestic businesses, and constantly enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of enterprises." Wei Jianhui, consultant of Analysys Brand Retail Industry, said, The express shipping is also in line with the direction of China's policy incentives, industrial upgrading, transfer and export, enhancing the stability and security demands of the industrial chain supply chain, and promoting China's opening up and development process.

Chen Xiaoqiu, a trade compliance expert of Whale Platform think tank, said that in recent years, the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce has led to a sustained growth of export demand in the future, while the logistics and distribution capacity of overseas markets, especially Southeast Asia and Latin America, cannot keep pace. It just happens that the layout of China's express delivery can fill the market gap on the demand side. In addition, years of fierce competition in the express industry has accumulated rich experience for China's express shipping. In the future, China's express industry can seize the opportunity of rapid development of cross-border e-commerce, connect with international logistics resources, and accelerate its position in the international trade market.

Take policy as sail, deepen and refine overseas market

In 2022, the policy dividend will continue to be released, helping express enterprises to "dig gold" in the sea. At the beginning of the year, the Opinions on Promoting the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade issued by the General Office of the State Council pointed out that the integrated operation of domestic and foreign trade by market entities should be supported. We will encourage qualified large business and logistics enterprises to "go global", strengthen the integration and allocation of resources, optimize the international marketing system, and improve the global service network. We will support the development of large multinational supply chain service enterprises, improve their international competitiveness, and enhance the resilience of the industrial chain supply chain.

According to the report recently released by China Merchants Transportation, China's ability to strengthen international express delivery will become one of the key development directions in the future. After the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) came into force on January 1, 2022, it further promoted cross-border trade and improved cross-border logistics efficiency through tariff reduction and exemption and other institutional arrangements. At the same time, the bilateral trade volume between China and countries and regions along the "the Belt and Road" continues to rise, which also brings broad development space for cross-border logistics.

Many favorable factors further encourage domestic express enterprises to "go global" and build overseas express networks through self construction or mergers and acquisitions.

"It is expected that in the future, express delivery enterprises will continue to deepen and refine markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, etc." said Guo Tao, an angel investor and a well-known Internet expert. However, logistics infrastructure in Southeast Asia, Latin America and other regions is relatively backward, and there are differences in culture, philosophy, living habits, etc. Consumers' concerns and needs are not the same as those in China. Logistics enterprises need to constantly overcome difficulties.

Wei Jianhui predicted that in 2023, the economies of major developed economies in the world will fall into recession, which will increase the risk of weak growth of China's international trade exports. At present, cross-border e-commerce is a new engine of foreign trade growth, and the development of express enterprises is strongly related to cross-border e-commerce, or brings great challenges to express enterprises going to sea. "For example, the continuous improvement of the requirements for the full link capability of cross-border services of express enterprises will accelerate the exit of a single business service enterprise, and further concentrate its market share on enterprises with agile organization, proper business layout, and higher product and technology adaptability."