Reduce the logistics costs of the whole society! Why does the central government need to deploy again?

The fourth meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Commission held recently studied the issue of effectively reducing the logistics costs of the whole society.

This meeting has raised the cost reduction and efficiency increase of logistics to a new level, clarified the starting point and end point, basic premise, main channels, specific measures, etc. of logistics cost reduction, and pointed out the direction and planned a "roadmap" for effectively reducing the logistics costs of the whole society.

01 Raising the cost reduction and efficiency increase of logistics to a new level

The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2023 proposed to effectively reduce the logistics costs of the whole society.

According to the data of the China Logistics Information Center, the total social logistics cost in 2023 will be 18.2 trillion yuan, and the ratio to GDP will be 14.4%, which is 0.3 percentage points lower than that in 2022.

Logistics is the "muscles and veins" of the real economy, connecting production and consumption, domestic trade and foreign trade. It is necessary to effectively reduce the logistics costs of the whole society, enhance the core competitiveness of the industry, and improve the efficiency of economic operation.

Regarding how to effectively reduce the logistics costs of the whole society, the fourth meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Commission has planned a "roadmap".

The meeting emphasized that the starting point and end point of reducing logistics costs is to serve the real economy and the people. The basic premise is to keep the proportion of manufacturing basically stable. The main way is to adjust the structure and promote reform, and effectively reduce transportation costs, warehousing costs, and management costs.

The China Logistics Information Center issued an article on the 27th to interpret that this meeting, combined with the current economic development environment and development goals and tasks, has raised the logistics cost reduction and efficiency increase to a new level, made a redeployment, and has many new proposals.

"The approach is more in-depth and the goal is more specific." The China Logistics Information Center said that the meeting emphasized that the main approach is to adjust the structure and promote reform, and specifically mentioned that "the basic premise is to keep the proportion of manufacturing basically stable" to effectively reduce the logistics costs of transportation, warehousing and management. From the statistical data, the total logistics of the manufacturing industry accounts for more than 80%, and the logistics costs of most industries and fields account for a high proportion. From the perspective of enterprises, it is necessary to carry out pilot statistical surveys on the logistics costs of key enterprises, establish a base point for logistics costs in various industries and fields, and form a benchmarking system for logistics costs in subdivided industries to better serve logistics cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

02 Three major measures have been proposed. What are the impacts?

The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Transport analyzed at a press conference on the 28th that, in general, "low cost in a single link and high cost of the entire chain" is the most prominent contradiction in the current logistics operation, and "low efficiency in logistics resource allocation and low efficiency in circulation" are the key factors leading to high logistics costs.

Reducing the logistics costs of the whole society is an important measure to improve the efficiency of economic operation. Regarding how to effectively reduce the logistics costs of the whole society, the fourth meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Commission proposed three major measures:

Optimize the transportation structure, strengthen the "road to rail" and "road to water", deepen the reform of the comprehensive transportation system, and form a unified, efficient, and orderly competitive logistics market.

Optimize the main trunk lines, clear the bottlenecks, improve the modern commercial circulation system, and encourage the development of new logistics models combined with platform economy, low-altitude economy, and unmanned driving.

Coordinate the planning of logistics hubs, optimize the construction of transportation infrastructure and the layout of major productive forces, and vigorously develop airport economy and port economy.

The China Logistics Information Center pointed out that this meeting mentioned for the first time in the path of reducing social logistics costs that it encourages the combination with low-altitude economy. Relevant policies and normative documents have been launched and implemented one after another, and related industries are moving towards standardized development. New models such as low-altitude logistics have broad application space. This move focuses on expanding model channels to promote logistics efficiency.

"To effectively reduce the logistics costs of the whole society, we must deeply understand its connotation and extension, and face up to the existing problems of cross-transportation mode blockage, long resource transportation distance, high inventory capital occupation, repeated circulation links, and homogenization of logistics services from the perspective of social and economic operation." The China Logistics Information Center believes that logistics services must be deeply integrated into the supply chain service links of the real economy, enhance the core competitiveness of the logistics industry, and promote high-quality economic development with high-efficiency logistics services.

The Ministry of Transport pointed out that the next step will be to organize a special action to reduce the cost, improve the quality and increase the efficiency of transportation and logistics. First, accelerate the improvement of the comprehensive transportation service system and promote structural cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency improvement. Second, strengthen the efficient connection of various links and promote systematic cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency improvement. Third, accelerate the construction of a unified national transportation and logistics market and promote institutional cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency improvement. Fourth, accelerate the development of smart logistics and green logistics and promote technical cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency improvement. Fifth, strengthen the guarantee of factor resources and promote comprehensive cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency improvement. Sixth, guide enterprises to strengthen management and improve efficiency and promote operational cost reduction, quality improvement and efficiency improvement.

"The logistics cost reduction emphasized by the conference is not only an adjustment of economic strategy, but also a profound change related to the national economy and people's livelihood." Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association and founding dean of the National Research Institute of New Economy, told China News Service that the clear signal released by this change is that China is committed to building an efficient, green and intelligent modern logistics system based on the real economy and guided by people's needs. This is not only an important measure to improve the quality and efficiency of economic development internally, but also will promote the formation of a unified national market, improve the overall operating efficiency of the national economy, and help consolidate China's key role in global supply chain management.