Visitors at the transport logistics China exhibition. Provided to China Daily

Shanghai will host Asia’s largest logistics exhibition from June 17-19 at the New International Expo Center as part of its strategy to develop the local logistics industry.

Logistics has been considered as an integral part of the city’s effort to develop into an international shipping center, analysts said.

Organized by Messe München International (MMI), the biannual exhibition, also known as transport logistic China 2014, will offer participants and visitors an inside look at the logistics industry and an opportunity to obtain the most up-todate information about the industry chain in China.

More than 800 exhibitors are expected at tlC and Metro + Rail China, which will have an exhibition area of 50,000 square meters.

Highlights of tlC 2014

As tlC is Asia’s prominent logistics event, the organizers are sparing no efforts in making tlC a successful and industry leading exhibition.

In 2014, tlC will join hands with Rail+Metro China to give visitors important rail-related information. Rail+Metro China made its debut in 2002 and has become an important platform for rail firms to demonstrate their technologies and achievements. Air Cargo China will also continue to be an integrated part of tlC in 2014.

It is the first time the three exhibitions will be held together and their combined areas will reach more than 50,000 square meters. The three exhibitions will cover logistic services, logistic property, air cargo transport, rail and road transport, ports and shipping services, logistics equipments and fresh food delivery services.

The fresh food delivery business will be another highlight at tlC 2014. It will give visitors detailed information about the whole business chain. It is the first time in tlC to have a demonstration area for fresh food delivery.

In the fresh food delivery demonstration area, visitors can find detailed information about cold-chain equipment, delivery services, transportation equipment and information systems and have chance to talk with some leading online fresh food traders. Organizers of tlC said the exhibition area has attracted considerable attention from major online fresh food traders. Participants from this industry include sfbest. com, jd.com, tootoo.cn, fruitday.com and xianguomai.com.

Participants and visitors

Developed in China for a decade, tlC has established strong brand awareness in the world’s second-largest economy. In 2014, of the 800 companies participating in the two exhibitions, 60 percent will be domestic. World logistics giants also consider the exhibition as an important platform.

Companies participating in the exhibition include SinoTrans & CSC, China Railway Express Co, SF Express, Speed Fresh Logistic, Schenker, CMAL, TNT Airway, Sky Team Cargo, Air China Cargo, Munich Airport, Global Logistic Properties, Prologis, BYD Folk Lifts, Siemens and many more.

Its international outlook has established strong brand loyalty among global group participants. In 2014, business groups from 7 countries and international organization will participate: Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Russia, ITCO, the Republic of Latvia and the Netherlands.

In addition to service providers, global buyers are also keen on visiting tlC 2014 and 30 percent more have registered compared with 2012. They include BMW, General Electric, Midea, yhd.com, DHL, Maersk Line, Schneider, Honeywell, BASF and many more.

The number of visitors attending tlC is also expected to increase significantly this year. According to the organizers, the number of visitors registering online is increasing at a double-digit rate daily.

To boost the number of visitors, MMI is working closely with local governments in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.They have successfully invited more than 30 buyer groups to the exhibition. The professional buyers are formed by companies from different industries such as food and beverage, toxic chemicals, automotive, online retailing and textile manufacturing.

To give participants and visitors up-todate industry information, more than 30 forums covering 10 themes will be held during the exhibition period. The topics include changes in goods transportation, logistic systems of e-commerce operators, cold-chain logistics and supply chain finance.

In addition, several discussion salons will be held concerning Shanghai Free Trade Zone policies and innovation in supply chain finance.

Positive outlook

Meanwhile, although growth in China’s domestic logistics market slowed in the first quarter of 2014, experts said the outlook for the sector remains positive, as the central government recently announced plans to accelerate the development of productionoriented service industries, including logistics.

Figures from the China Federation of Logistic and Purchasing showed the total value of logistics goods was 4.78 trillion yuan in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 8.6 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 0.8 percent lower than the same period in 2013.

Combined logistics expenditures in the first quarter of this year totaled 2.3 trillion yuan, up 8.1 percent from a year ago. The sector accounted for 17.9 percent of China's GDP in the same period.