(Yicai Global) July 28 -- China’s logistics industry logged stable growth in the first six months from a year earlier, indicating that the supply chain is returning to normal and people’s spending power is improving.

The size of the country’s logistics industry gained 4.8 percent in the six months ended June 30 to CNY160.6 trillion (USD22.4 trillion), according to data released today by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. And growth in the second quarter outstripped that on the first quarter by 1.6 percentage point.

The contribution to logistics from people’s spending, imports, renewable resources and other fields increased from a year earlier to nearly 30 percent, driving up growth in the logistics sector by 1.4 percentage point, the federation said.

As demand improves and supportive policies come into effect, the operating costs of logistics firms have fallen and investment in logistics infrastructure has increased.

In the first half, the logistics’ companies operating costs advanced 3.7 percent from a year earlier to CNY8.6 trillion (USD1.2 trillion), which was lower than the total logistics and gross domestic product growth ratio in the same period. The ratio of logistics expenses to GDP was 14.5 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the first quarter and a drop of 0.3 percentage point from the first half of 2022.

In terms of the composition of overall logistics costs, transportation costs gained 0.6 percentage point year on year, storage costs dipped by 0.5 percentage point and management expenses decreased by 0.1 percentage point.

Revenue in the logistics industry climbed 5.3 percent in the first six months from a year earlier to CNY6.3 trillion (USD880 billion), and the average prosperity index of the industry was 51.2 percent, significantly higher than the same period a year earlier.

Logistics companies are maintaining rapid growth. In the first half, revenues from key logistics enterprises jumped 10 percent, as supply chains and people’s spending power recovered rapidly.

China will continue to boost domestic demand in the second half, which combined with the huge potential and good resilience of the logistics industry, will enable long-term growth in demand for logistics services, the federation said.

Editor: Kim Taylor