South China: New A-license location in Fuzhou
Tommy Shen develops sea and rail freight solutions for different industries.
Since July 1, 2022, a. hartrodt in Fuzhou in the Southern Chinese province of Fujian has an A-license and can thus offer customers complete international freight forwarding services. Head of the new branch office with five employees is Tommy Shen (29), who joined a. hartrodt seven years ago after graduating from university. Fan Luo, Managing Director South China at a. hartrodt, describes the team in Fuzhou as a "mix of young, highly motivated sales people and colleagues with decades of experience". Tommy Shen sees his "main job" in local sales – he wants to "develop more business".
Feeders to Taiwan/Hong Kong and worldwide container services
"We have been developing our sales in the area since 2019 out of Xiamen," Fan Luo says. Fuzhou has several ports on the Taiwan Strait, including feeder services with Taiwan and Hong Kong, and three container terminals operated by PSA International for global liner services. In addition, there are river ports on the Minjiang River, as well as rail links to the Iron Silk Road to Europe and an airport serving international destinations in Asia and the USA.
Temperature controlled warehouse and new rail product
In the food & beverage industry, a. hartrodt in Fuzhou serves import customers. "Beer and wine are mainly imported from Europe, the Mediterranean and South America," Tommy Shen reports. Depending on the import volume, a. hartrodt can rent locally up to 5,000 square meters of temperature-controlled and general cargo warehouse space. In addition, the new team aims to win import and export customers from industries such as machinery, medical technology, auto parts or garments. "Given the congested German seaports with long waiting times and strikes, we are offering our new rail product as an alternative to sea freight," Tommy Shen says. Fuzhou is linked to the Iron Silk Road to Europe via Chongqing, Xi’an, Zhengzhou, Yiwu.
For Tommy Shen, assessing the economic outlook is "more challenging than ever before". Although the situation in Shanghai is gradually improving, "we don't know which city in China will have to go into lockdown next", he says.