China's 14th Five-Year Plan strengthens supply chains
a. hartrodt intends to grow increasingly with local Chinese customers in the future.
The 258 employees of a. hartrodt in China closely followed the approval of the Chinese government's 14th Five-Year Program at the People's Congress in Beijing at the beginning of March. Limin Wang, Managing Director at a. hartrodt Shanghai Logistics, welcomes the plan to strengthen domestic demand by 2025: "We are focused on local Chinese companies and want to help them to achieve their growth targets." So far, a. hartrodt's 14 Chinese offices already serve about one third of local customers, and this proportion is set to increase significantly in the future.
Xi Jinping wants to develop domestic consumption
The concept of two cycles refers to the Chinese domestic market and the international market. Different industries and resources are to be integrated to reach mutual development goals. The government wants to push ahead with digital infrastructure, e-mobility and other innovations. President Xi Jinping plans to build a reliable industrial and supply chain and develop domestic consumption. "Many of our customers will benefit from this and industries such as automotive or high-tech will boom," Wang is convinced.
China as a center of regional supply chains
Experts believe that Chinese companies will continue to rely on foreign suppliers. "There will be more demand for spare parts from Eastern Europe," observes Wang. At the same time, he is preparing for growing intra-Asian shipments as the People's Republic seeks to establish itself as a center of regional supply chains: "China is just reclaiming market share from other countries that are taking longer to recover from Corona." Hongtao Qu, Managing Director at a. hartrodt Tianjin Logistics, expects China's imports to grow faster than exports: "With our global network, we are the ideal partner for this."
a. hartrodt's customized solutions include comprehensive consulting services, also for duties, taxes and sales channels. The offer is well received: "In 2021, we had our best first quarter ever in China," says Qu. For the full year, he expects further growth.