As many e-commerce companies gradually ignited war in overseas markets, the logistics field followed up quickly. Recently, several leading express logistics enterprises have successively issued heavy measures to strengthen the construction of international network. Being abroad, you can also enjoy efficient express logistics services in China. This scene is gradually becoming a reality

Experts said that the global competition in the express industry has entered the "second half". However, many existing challenges of express "going to sea" still exist. In addition to facing international competitors, it also faces high overseas labor costs and market development costs. The industry needs to work together to open up upstream and downstream and build an ecosystem

The flames of war are burning, and the "going to sea" of overseas express is accelerating

At noon on June 18, JD group and Google announced that Google would invest $550 million in JD in cash, and the two sides would form a broad strategic partnership. After announcing the acquisition of Google investment, Liu qiangdong, CEO of JD group, issued an internal letter announcing the new goal of JD logistics. Determined the internationalization direction of jd.com in the next 10 years, that is, the globalization of supply chain services led by logistics, so as to realize China's access to the world in 48 hours

On the same day, JD logistics officially announced the implementation plan: take the global intelligent supply chain infrastructure network as the blueprint, take the construction of 830 dual access global network, the top ten supply chain science and technology output and the five whole chain digital empowerment as the direction, realize the experience, technology and scientific and technological achievements of infrastructure construction and blossom in the world. Data show that previously, relying on JD logistics global supply chain system, overseas orders increased by 375% year-on-year during 618 this year

Jingdong's new strategy is only an epitome of leading logistics enterprises accelerating their going out. With China's e-commerce giants accelerating their global layout, more express logistics enterprises are rapidly following up. Zhongtong express, which is listed in the US stock market, recently said that it will jointly establish a joint venture with Turkish Airlines and Pacific Airlines to integrate their advantageous resources and develop global air transport services

According to the business processing volume, Zhongtong is the express company with the highest market share in China, with a daily package volume of 28 million pieces. According to the agreement, the newly established joint venture, headquartered in Hong Kong, will provide all kinds of door-to-door logistics services, including receiving, picking, transportation, receiving and dispatching, express transportation, transnational docking and last mile distribution

Coincidentally. Yuantong express, the first express company listed in a shares, announced that it would work together with rookie network and Air China to build a 10 billion logistics hub at Hong Kong International Airport, providing strong support for the construction of a global 72 hour logistics network

According to the announcement of Yuantong express, the consortium formed by three companies successfully won the bid for the development project of high-end logistics center of Hong Kong International Airport. The total investment of the project is about HK $12 billion, with a total floor area of 380000 square meters. It is expected to be completed and put into use in 2023. At that time, tens of millions of cross-border e-commerce packages can be processed every year

Internationalization has always been the established strategy of Yuantong express. In 2017, Yuantong acquired Xianda international, a Hong Kong listed company, and renamed it "Yuantong Express (International) Holding Co., Ltd." this year. At present, Yuantong international network covers 4 continents, with more than 60 international direct sales sites and more than 1000 overseas network agents

According to Liu Dacheng, vice president of the Internet Industry Research Institute of Tsinghua University, China's leading logistics enterprises have generally had a global vision. The continuous rise of China's new economy and the increasing influence of the international market are conducive to cultivating and promoting enterprises to move outward through the market and sharing various international resources under the global economic system

Many experts also said that the acceleration of logistics enterprises going to sea is conducive to integrating into the global supply chain and further enhancing the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises. The guidance on actively promoting supply chain innovation and application previously issued by the general office of the State Council clearly proposed to cultivate about 100 global supply chain leading enterprises within three years

Seek new growth points and export "China services"

Why does the express industry speed up the pace of "going to sea"? In the view of industry experts, at present, the growth rate of domestic e-commerce has slowed down, and the potential of cross-border e-commerce is still huge. With the gradual saturation of the domestic market, express enterprises began to layout overseas and seek new growth points

According to the statistics of the State Post Office, in 2017, China's international / Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan express business volume completed 830 million pieces, with a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, while the overall growth rate of the industry was 28%. Due to the high unit price of international express, although the business volume accounts for only 2.1% of the whole industry, the revenue accounts for more than 10%

"The strategic goal of express going out is to seize the opportunity of cross-border e-commerce logistics." Wang Liping, a researcher at Shenwan Hongyuan, said

It is reported that by 2020, the scale of China's cross-border e-commerce transactions will reach 12 trillion yuan, accounting for about 37.6% of China's total imports and exports; China's cross-border e-commerce retail transactions will exceed 3.6 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of about 37%

Liu Shaokun, vice chairman of Pacific Airlines, said: "with the vigorous development of e-commerce, the revenue of the global express industry will continue to increase, which is expected to reach US $340 billion by 2020. Taking the cooperation as an opportunity will greatly enhance their business capacity and influence."

"The innovation of new retail in China and the expansion of globalization make China's express logistics industry usher in a new round of development opportunities." Lai Meisong, chairman of Zhongtong express, said that Zhongtong will actively layout and explore the international market to make the international business an important growth point for the enterprise in the future

Bringing better express logistics services to global consumers is also a major driving force for enterprises to go to sea. In terms of timeliness and cost performance, China's express industry has achieved the world's leading level. From placing an order on Ali express platform to receiving the skirt she bought, Natasha, a Moscow girl, took only five days, which surprised her

Natasha's experience comes from the first intercontinental regular e-commerce route opened by rookie network in March this year, which significantly shortens the delivery time of packages in the Chinese and Russian markets. In May this year, rookies opened an intercontinental route from Hong Kong to Belgium, generally raising the logistics timeliness for Europe to about five days

Rookies said they would build world-class logistics hubs in many places around the world. In addition to the Hong Kong project that has won the bid, in mid June, rookie network and Emirates air cargo jointly announced that they would build an ehub (digital trade hub) radiating the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa at Dubai airport to help packages transit and distribute quickly in the Middle East

Many challenges still exist and there is an urgent need for industry cooperation

Regulators have a positive attitude towards China's express industry going global. One belt, one road to the world, is to encourage the key express companies to serve as cross-border enterprises and cross-border enterprises, and to develop overseas enterprises, and to build up a cross border delivery network based on the periphery, covering the "one belt and one road" and the global delivery. "13th Five-Year plan" is the opportunity for the development of express industry. p>

Ma Junsheng, director of the State Postal Administration, proposed at the 2018 national postal administration conference to strengthen the construction of international mail express air transportation network, support qualified enterprises to build warehouses overseas, encourage co construction and sharing, and improve the world competitiveness of China's express brands

In the process of express going out, there are many modes: for example, cooperating with overseas giants and establishing joint ventures. Prior to Zhongtong, SF holdings announced last year that it would join hands with United Parcel Service (UPS) to establish a joint venture Global Express Holdings Co., Ltd. with an investment of US $5 million each, mainly engaged in international express business

Clustering is also an important path. Relying on the international influence of Alibaba platform, rookie network invests in a digital international warehousing and logistics hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and attracts rookie alliance enterprise clusters to settle in. The scale effect of this model is relatively significant

However, it is worth noting that express enterprises also face many challenges when going out. For example, the global network layout of many express delivery enterprises has just started, resulting in the disconnection of service chains in overseas markets. Air transport capacity is insufficient. At present, only a few express companies such as SF and Yuantong have cargo airlines, which is far from FedEx. In addition, in terms of terminal distribution, China's express industry mostly adopts the franchise mode, while the express market in developed countries is basically a direct mode, which means that the cost of developing the market is high

"Once China's express logistics enterprises enter the overseas market, in addition to facing up to international competitors, the first thing they face is the change of the whole operation mode. First, the labor dividend represented by 'express brother' will disappear and will face higher labor costs overseas. Second, many overseas consumers live in the suburbs and live relatively scattered. How about Reducing costs in the express delivery process has become a major challenge. " Liu Dacheng said

Although there are many challenges, from the growth experience of express giants, internationalization is the only way. Yu weijiao, chairman of Yuantong express, once said that it is time for Chinese express enterprises to seize time and seize opportunities as they move towards internationalization. Who can become FedEx in China? Maybe it will show up in the next five years

Liu Dacheng also believes that with the continuous release of favorable policies and the continuous accumulation of experience in the process of going out, the risks of logistics enterprises going out are expected to be better resolved

Yang Daqing, a special researcher of China logistics society, believes that the intelligence and globalization of express logistics need a lot of capital investment. We look forward to the whole industry working together to open up the upstream and downstream and build an ecosystem. (he Xinrong, ban JUANJUAN)

This article is transferred from China economic network