China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing: The ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP will decrease to the lowest level in years, to 14.1% in 2024.

According to a report released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP in 2024 was 14.1%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous year, reaching the lowest level in recent years. The costs steadily decreased throughout the year, indicating that the cost of logistics for every 100 yuan of GDP decreased from 14.4 yuan to 14.1 yuan. This reduction equates to saving over 400 billion yuan in logistics costs based on the current GDP scale, demonstrating a decrease in social logistics costs during economic operations. The decrease in the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP is the result of a combination of factors such as policy promotion, economic optimization, and improvement in logistics quality and efficiency. In the next stage, it is necessary to further break through bottlenecks through optimization of industrial layout, collaborative construction of supply chain systems, and upgrading of logistics services to effectively reduce total social logistics costs. In 2024, the central government and the State Council attached great importance to the development of logistics. The Fourth Meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Commission and the Third Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee made strategic deployments, and the General Office and the State Council jointly issued the "Action Plan for Effectively Reducing Total Social Logistics Costs." The National Development and Reform Commission and other departments implemented comprehensive measures and coordinated efforts to effectively promote the improvement of the logistics operating environment. From a statistical perspective, the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP is commonly used as a core indicator to measure the efficiency of total social logistics costs. The change to some extent reflects the relationship between the comprehensive efficiency of the logistics system in China and the quality of the real economy. From an economic perspective, the transformation and upgrading of the economy is the economic basis for reducing the ratio of total social logistics costs in China. In 2024, the structure of China's economic development improved, with a shift towards higher-quality and new drivers. The proportion of the tertiary industry steadily increased, while the second industry remained stable. Manufacturing continued to develop towards high-end, with the value-added rate in the industrial manufacturing sector increasing by nearly 30% and rising by nearly 10 percentage points in ten years. Industrial upgrading, the increase in the proportion of the service industry, and other economic factors have led to a decrease in the demand volume and freight volume of logistics GDP per unit (that is, an increase in GDP created by the same physical freight volume and logistics cost), achieving certain results in high-quality economic development. From a business environment perspective, policy driving and infrastructure improvement play a positive externality in reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In 2024, driven by multiple policies, the importance of modern logistics and the acceleration of high-quality dvelopment of logistics have become a consensus throughout society. The policy environment has improved, and the modern logistics support system continues to be enhanced. Throughout the year, the General Office and the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Effectively Reducing Total Social Logistics Costs," which comprehensively deployed various aspects, including deepening institutional reform, promoting the integration of industry and supply chains, improving the national logistics hub and channel network, strengthening innovation-driven development, and improving quality and efficiency. The hardware environment has been upgraded, and the positive externality of logistics infrastructure is gradually becoming prominent. Currently, China's comprehensive transportation network, including highways, railways, and civil aviation, is becoming more complete. The construction of national logistics hubs is accelerating, and the upgrade of port and station hub systems is gradually improving. The optimization of infrastructure in various fields has laid a good foundation for expanding transport scale, improving transport efficiency, and developing multi-modal transportation. Under the promotion of policies and other factors, logistics restrictions and approvals in various sectors and regions have been simplified, reducing the management fee rate by 1%, and the management fee ratio to GDP has decreased by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. From the perspective of logistics services, structural adjustments and technological innovations are intrinsic drivers for efficient logistics operations. In 2024, logistics supply and demand were well matched, with stable service scale and quality improvement. In particular, the synergy in structural adjustments and technological innovations has shown results. In terms of transportation structure, the proportion of highway freight has decreased, and the development potential of efficient transportation methods continues to be released. Air cargo volume increased by 22.1% year-on-year, and the proportion of air transport increased by 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. Water freight turnover volume increased by 8.8% year-on-year, with the proportion of water freight turnover volume increasing by 1.5 percentage points. The efficiency of air and water transportation has improved, with the proportion of highway freight turnover volume decreasing by 0.6 percentage points, indicating improved efficiency in long-distance transportation from road to water. In terms of technological innovation, information sharing across sectors has helped tighten the connection between modes of transportation. Information sharing is steadily advancing, with data sharing mechanisms gradually being established for key ports and railway yards. The level of digital connectivity in key areas of logistics has been strengthened, aiding in the development of coordinated transport modes. Throughout the year, the volume of containerized rail-water transport increased by around 15% year-on-year, with an increase of 0.3 percentage points in the proportion of multimodal transport and related agencies. However, it should be noted that there is currently insufficient domestic effective demand in China, and the transition from old to new drivers of growth presents challenges. The continuous promotion of effectively reducing total social logistics costs faces certain challenges, and efforts in various areas need to be further advanced in the next stage. During the economic transformation period, uncertainties exist in industrial layout, and logistics services still need to maintain strong resilience. From an industrial perspective, the external environment is complex and severe, leading to changes in industrial layout. Since the beginning of this year, trade barriers have increased significantly, with some countries frequently imposing trade restrictions on Chinese products. There is a clear trend towards multi-regional and transnational layout transformations in some industries. The average transportation distance of industrial chains has increased, with the average freight transport distance being around 450 km per year, a slight increase from the previous year. From a regional perspective, the balance of regional logistics development still needs to be further improved. The overall unified national market is steadily advancing, but there are still regional and structural differences in logistics. The number and service level of logistics entities in the central and western regions still need to be further improved to promote a more balanced distribution of logistics services. From a structural perspective, traditional transportation services are still relatively abundant, and structural optimization still needs to be adjusted. There are still over 7 million road freight carriers in China, and the proportion of road freight transport still accounts for around 70% of the total volume, indicating the need for adjustments in the large-scale road transport sector. The continued promotion of "road-to-rail" and "road-to-water" transportation is a key measure to optimize the freight transport structure, and efforts must continue to shift the transportation of bulk commodities such as coal and minerals from road to rail and water transport. The supply chain system of industrial and commercial enterprises needs to be improved, and the concept of co-building with logistics needs to be consolidated. In recent years, the level of logistics management and socialization of industrial and commercial enterprises in China has been gradually improving, indicating a growing need for robustness.The proportion of outsourced logistics business of commercial and industrial enterprises exceeds 65%, and the growth rate of supply chain service orders of logistics enterprises exceeds 10%, indicating that an integrated supply chain system is gradually being established. Despite this, only about 20% of current revenues of top logistics enterprises come from integrated logistics businesses, indicating that related types of businesses are still in their infancy. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the integration and innovation of supply chains between logistics enterprises and commercial and industrial enterprises, expand business increment, and promote cost reduction in the entire logistics chain through process optimization, facility sharing, and information integration.In some areas, there is still price competition, and the profitability of logistics service providers is under pressure and needs to be improved. Currently, logistics service providers in some areas are facing many operational difficulties, with homogenization of services in areas such as road transport, express delivery, and water transport leading to a "price for quantity" cycle. Lack of coordination in the industry chain, imperfect information sharing mechanisms, and other factors make it difficult to transmit cost reductions in certain areas to overall efficiency improvements across the chain. Research shows that among key logistics companies, information services, planning services, and integrated services types have relatively good profitability levels and have good sustainability. In the future, it is necessary to further expand demonstration effects, guide the establishment of service standards and pricing guidance mechanisms in the industry, and encourage the transformation of logistics services from homogenized competition to value creation. The growth in investment costs for going abroad has accelerated, and the international competitiveness of logistics companies needs to be further enhanced. Faced with an increasingly complex international environment, China's resilient development in manufacturing exports demands higher requirements for cross-border logistics services. Under this impetus, logistics companies are taking measures such as establishing overseas warehouses for cross-border e-commerce logistics and actively participating in the construction of international freight corridors to jointly promote the construction of international supply chain infrastructure. However, due to factors such as exacerbated geopolitical risks, high localization compliance costs, and standard differences, the international development of logistics companies faces multiple pressures. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen infrastructure connectivity, optimize the alignment of international rules and standards, deepen international logistics cooperation between large business and logistics companies, and jointly promote the reduction of international logistics costs.