China needs logistics standardized system
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-10-16 10:30

Experts urged the Chinese logistics sector to standardize the prices for loading and unloading, packaging, storage and transportation of products, while marking the World Standard Day that fell on Thursday.

The logistics business, which distributes goods from factories to retailers, has been increasingly booming since the 1990s, but now is in urgent need of standardization, noted experts.

Companies in the industry set different prices for their services, pushing up the cost of materials distribution. In China, 20 to 30 percent of the cost of a product sold in a store accounts for how much it cost the retailer to get it there. This is more than twice the amount of the developed country, according to Li Zhongquan, deputy section chief of the Standardization Division of Liaoning Provincial Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau (QTSB).

Standardization will help improve the efficiency of logistics and reduce the cost, said Li. But many businesses do not realize the importance of standardization.

In addition to standardizing costs of services, China needs more personnel trained in this field, said Zhang Yanhua, deputy director of State Commission for Administration of Standardization. The shortage of competent staff is greatly affecting the development of the business.

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), the market share of logistics industry in China totaled 461.8 billion yuan (US$55.6 billion) in value in 1999, and it will rise to 1,000 billion yuan (US$120 billion) by 2010.

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