China’sEvolvingLogisticsLandscapeMcKINSEY&COMPANY,GREATERCHINAOFFICEStephenShawandFrankWangJuly27,2001Theauthorsthankthefollowingcolleaguesfortheircontributionstothiswhitepaper:StaffanHertzell,DianaHuang,StevenPei,CynthiaWangPrefaceThisdocumentistheresultofaneffortbyMcKinsey&Company'sGreaterChinapracticetoassesstheimpactofChina'supcomingaccessiontotheWorldTradeOrganisationonthecountry’slogisticsandtransportationsector,asectorthatwillplayakeyroleinChina’songoingeconomicexpansion.Inthiswhitepaper,wepresentanoverviewofChina'slogisticsandtransportationsector,includingrecentdevelopmentsinthearea,describetheimpactofcurrenteconomicgrowthonthesectorandoutlineaperspectiveonapproachingthemarketinwaysthatincreasethechancesofsuccess.McKinsey&Companyistheworld’sleadinginternationalconsultingfirmassistingleadingcorporationsandselectednon-profitinstitutionsinresolvingcomplexmanagementchallengesinstrategy,organizationandoperations.Aprimaryaspectofourmissionistoprovideobjectivecounselinthefaceofthemostcomplexchange.ThoseseekingspecificadvicerelatingtothetopicsdiscussedinthiswhitepapershoulddirecttheirinquiriestoStephenShaw,aseniorpartnerinMcKinsey&Company’sHongKongoffice,orStaffanHertzell,aseniorspecialistinTransportandLogisticsinourBrusselsOffice.3China’sEvolvingLogisticsLandscapeEconomicreformsinChinahavealreadybroughtfar-reachingchangetomanysectorsofitseconomy.Now,it’stheturnofthelogisticsandtransportationsector:ongoingeconomicgrowthandChina’supcomingentryintotheWorldTradeOrganisationcouldverywelltransformthiscurrentlyunderdevelopedsector.Whilegrowthisstimulatingdemand,WTO-entrypromisessignificantspillovereffectsonthesectorfromthefurtherexpansionandopeningoftheeconomy.Arapidexpansionofthesectorisclearlyonthecards.Already,theChinesegovernmenthasnamedlogisticsastrategicindustryandhascommittedtopromotinginvestmentinanumberoflogisticscentresacrossthecountry.Retailchannelsareconsolidatingandmodernizinginthetoptiercities,China’smajorconsumptioncentres,andspreadingtothenextt...
