What are the development trends of international freight transport? Since the reform and opening up, China's international freight forwarding industry has developed rapidly, playing an important role in expanding foreign trade, attracting foreign capital, expanding employment, promoting the development of third-party logistics, etc. At present, with the implementation of the "the Belt and Road" strategy and the vigorous development of cross-border e-commerce, the development of international freight forwarding is expected to enter a new chapter

Before the reform and opening up, China's international freight forwarding industry was strictly controlled and lagged behind. After the reform and opening up, the Chinese government has gradually liberalized the management of international freight forwarding, and the international freight forwarding industry has witnessed rapid development. There are about 2.5 million employees in China's international freight forwarding industry, with a strong momentum of development. At the same time, the "the Belt and Road" strategy and the continuous development of cross-border e-commerce have provided sufficient growth impetus for the international freight industry, with broad prospects. However, the international freight forwarding industry itself has certain limitations. On the one hand, the international freight forwarding industry is a pure service industry, which is closely related to service quality, geographical location, interpersonal relationship, past history, etc., resulting in a small number of small and medium-sized freight forwarding companies and large freight forwarding companies, which is not conducive to the further development of the industry.

On the other hand, international freight forwarding is an industry where competition and cooperation coexist. For international freight forwarding enterprises, they should realize business complementation, information sharing and freight network sharing between different countries, regions and enterprises to enhance their own strength.

In general, the international logistics industry in 2022 will continue to overcome the global supply chain dilemma catalyzed by the epidemic on the basis of high fluctuation of freight rates and adjustment of transport capacity structure. In this process, the development of the international logistics industry will show important trends such as "slightly easing the contradiction between supply and demand of transportation capacity", "continuing to promote the integration of industry mergers and acquisitions", "expanding the investment in emerging technologies", and "accelerating the rise of" green "logistics". Practitioners should not only focus on solving the current practical problems, but also reshape the development hope aimed at the future.

Trend 1: The contradiction between supply and demand of transport capacity is slightly eased

Although the contradiction between supply and demand of transportation capacity is a long-standing problem in the international logistics industry, it has also been deepening in recent years. The outbreak of the epidemic in 2020 is a powerful catalyst for intensifying the contradiction of transport capacity and intensifying the tension between supply and demand, which will eventually lead to the partial disconnection between the international transport capacity allocation and the global supply chain demand, bringing great negative impact on the world economy and people's lives.

Trend 2: Industry M&A integration continues to advance

The supply chain crisis and profit growth have greatly accelerated the merger and integration of the international logistics industry in the past two years. The rapid growth of M&A is also considered to be the most far-reaching change in the international logistics industry in recent two years.

Stimulated by the supply chain crisis triggered by the epidemic, the newly launched mergers and acquisitions of international logistics enterprises not only aim to expand enterprises to achieve economies of scale, but also to integrate and optimize service capabilities through mergers and acquisitions, especially to integrate end-to-end business capabilities, enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises, improve the resilience and stability of the company's logistics services, so as to meet the needs of governments of all countries, In particular, the major economies have an urgent need for global supply chain security and stability. The substantial increase in profits of international logistics enterprises, especially global shipping enterprises in the past two years has provided them with sufficient "ammunition" and confidence for industry mergers and acquisitions.

Trend 3: Investment in emerging technologies keeps growing

Although the international logistics industry has been actively exploring possible ways to apply new technologies to promote development, the outbreak in 2020 undoubtedly promoted the pace of new technology application in the international logistics industry. In order to overcome the logistics difficulties caused by the epidemic, many new technologies have found application scenarios in the international logistics industry.

Objectively speaking, the rapid growth of new technology input and application in the international logistics industry in the past two years is, to a large extent, a response to the actual needs inspired by the epidemic at different levels. On the one hand, the COVID-19 epidemic has greatly changed the way consumers interact with suppliers of goods and services, and has put forward new requirements for the way goods and services are transferred from producers to consumers. The introduction and use of new technologies and equipment has always been one of the main ways for enterprises to meet the new requirements of the market. On the other hand, the shortage of labor force and supply chain crisis caused by the COVID-19 have prompted the logistics industry to optimize processes by accelerating the adoption of new technologies, and reduce and reduce logistics delays and interruptions caused by the epidemic and epidemic prevention policies.

Trend 4: "Green" logistics is accelerating

In recent years, the issue of environment and climate change has become the focus of the international community. Green and sustainable development has also become one of the main guiding principles for global economic and social adjustment. In order to protect the environment and promote the sustainable development of human society, major countries and international organizations around the world have formulated and launched a series of key agreements represented by the Paris Agreement through multiple rounds of consultations and close collaboration to promote environmental protection and sustainable development of the international community, and become an important basis for governments and international organizations to formulate and implement socio-economic development plans, supervise and guide market and social development.

In short, the sudden COVID-19 has greatly changed the recent situation of the international logistics industry, prompting the international logistics industry to re-examine its development direction and focus. In order to meet the needs of major economies in the world to ensure the security and stability of global and local supply chains, international logistics enterprises have continuously adjusted their business layout and development direction in the past two years according to the policies and guidelines of major national governments, and formed the goals that will still be pursued and the trend that will be maintained in 2022. In the short term, international logistics enterprises will continue to focus on improving the elasticity of the supply chain to cope with accidents.