The China import market is of increasing interest to many UK small businesses as the China economy continues to expand.
But freight forwarding from China is something that UK businesses see as something of a mystery, compared with freight forwarding to and from Europe and other more familiar countries.
It is important to take advice from a freight forwarding company with experience of China import as China is expected to continue to be the leading factory of the world, with its efficient manufacturing, low labour costs and high quality international freight infrastructure.
Although labour costs in China are rising, they remain competitive and, with the possible exception of apparel, it is predicted that China will further increase its share of global production. In particular, there is ample scope to increase exports to Europe, where levels of China import do not yet match the US levels.
As China's economy is growing so fast, there are many infrastructure changes happening that affect freight forwarding and other freight services. This means that it can be hard for the business owner to keep up to date on all the changes that may affect his own international freight.
For example, to cope with growth in freight forwarding, new container ports are being built and existing facilities expanded along China's eastern coast.
There is already a capacity shortage problem in Shanghai, so we are now seeing expansion of deepwater ports in Ningbo, especially after the recent opening of the Hangzhou Bridge.
The port of Shanghai is fighting against its flagging growth and is implementing strategies designed to turn Shanghai into a major Asian hub to rival Hong Kong and Singapore. This will be achieved partly by establishing feeder ports along the Yangtse River, establishing a regional feeder network with Shanghai as the centre of a massive international freight hub.
This international freight development ties in with the government's plan to create a year round shipping channel from Chongquing to the sea. By summer 2009, when the Three Gorges Dam is completed, the average river journey time between Chongquing and Shanghai will be cut in half, to about seven days. And this will be complemented by a billion dollar riverside railway project that will slash the journey time between Chonngquing and Shanghai from 41 hours to 10.
These kind of huge infrastructure projects are happening all over China and revolutionising the options for international freight forwarding from China.
UK businesses that are entering the China import market should make sure that they choose a freight forwarding company with know-how, up-to date knowledge and an experienced local network of freight forwarding agents. Not all shipping companies can provide this winning combination.
The importance of a strong local freight forwarding network cannot be emphasised enough, when it comes to China import, so choose your freight company wisely.
In Chinese culture, conducting business is based on trust and relationships, therefore it is vital to appoint a freight forwarder or shipping company with a network who have already established this trust.
Stephen Willis is Managing Director of RW Freight Services, a UK based freight company, established in 1971 and operating worldwide freight forwarding services.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Willis
Ezine article series 7 : Import From China - Bicycles
Despite various bicycle shops proclaiming one bicycle brand over another, it appears that not one of the brands of bikes mentioned is made in Britain. This surprised me when I went looking for a new bicycle. Since I ride a great deal and having done so for over twenty-five years, I am fed up with what I call the, "cheap bikes" - the ones where I constantly have to get new parts fitted. I have had a good number of bikes over the years - none of them expensive, but all imports - the last one from Tunisia. That isn't to say that bicycles aren't made in the UK today, high-street bicycle shops and independents alike can identify some manufacturers, but they are not what you would call, 'off-the-shelf'. They are nearly all made-to-order. By contrast China manufactured over sixty-three million bikes complete in 2008.
To buy a British-made bike, a punter will, more than likely, need to have it made-to-measure and hand-made. This is fine if a person can afford the sort of price that you would expect to pay for hand-made luxury. But supposing someone only has a few hundred pounds to spend (or less!). Are we, then, destined to buy only imported machines? Sadly, the answer seems to be yes. In years - or perhaps decades - gone by, it would have been specialist bikes that would have been imported from, say, Europe, and other, cheaper varieties imported from the Far East, like China. But 'globalisation' has stripped many manufacturing industries from British soil and sent it overseas. So, what constitutes 'British-made'? Is it a Good that is designed and built in its entirety by British workers or simply a Good that is assembled by British workers from imported components? If a bike is imported from overseas because it is made in a country on an assembly line where the labour rates are much cheaper than those of the UK, why are these machines still so expensive? If a hand-made bike can be made in Britain in a week for a couple of thousand pounds, is it beyond the realms of possibility to have an assembly line in the UK that can utilise British workers making bikes for the same 250 GBP to 1,000 GBP that we are already prepared to pay for an import?
Maybe it is a reminder back to the days of British Leyland in the 1970's and 1980's when British made cars were just no competition for their Japanese counterparts. Yet, when the likes of Honda and Toyota brought manufacturing expertise into Britain, it was British workers that were, and still are - current credit-crunch aside - the labour force behind these facilities. So, does that make their products (in the UK) British-made?
Britain is slowly being stripped of its engineering heritage. Trades like Fabrication, Coded-Welding, Fitting, Sheet-Metal Working just to name a few, are on the decline, with some colleges unable to attract young people back into these skills. It is a Catch-22 situation. It is good to know that highly skilled engineering companies still exist in Britain, able to make hand-made, quality bicycles, so why cannot we bring affordable bicycle manufacturing production lines back to Britain?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_E_Blakesley
To buy a British-made bike, a punter will, more than likely, need to have it made-to-measure and hand-made. This is fine if a person can afford the sort of price that you would expect to pay for hand-made luxury. But supposing someone only has a few hundred pounds to spend (or less!). Are we, then, destined to buy only imported machines? Sadly, the answer seems to be yes. In years - or perhaps decades - gone by, it would have been specialist bikes that would have been imported from, say, Europe, and other, cheaper varieties imported from the Far East, like China. But 'globalisation' has stripped many manufacturing industries from British soil and sent it overseas. So, what constitutes 'British-made'? Is it a Good that is designed and built in its entirety by British workers or simply a Good that is assembled by British workers from imported components? If a bike is imported from overseas because it is made in a country on an assembly line where the labour rates are much cheaper than those of the UK, why are these machines still so expensive? If a hand-made bike can be made in Britain in a week for a couple of thousand pounds, is it beyond the realms of possibility to have an assembly line in the UK that can utilise British workers making bikes for the same 250 GBP to 1,000 GBP that we are already prepared to pay for an import?
Maybe it is a reminder back to the days of British Leyland in the 1970's and 1980's when British made cars were just no competition for their Japanese counterparts. Yet, when the likes of Honda and Toyota brought manufacturing expertise into Britain, it was British workers that were, and still are - current credit-crunch aside - the labour force behind these facilities. So, does that make their products (in the UK) British-made?
Britain is slowly being stripped of its engineering heritage. Trades like Fabrication, Coded-Welding, Fitting, Sheet-Metal Working just to name a few, are on the decline, with some colleges unable to attract young people back into these skills. It is a Catch-22 situation. It is good to know that highly skilled engineering companies still exist in Britain, able to make hand-made, quality bicycles, so why cannot we bring affordable bicycle manufacturing production lines back to Britain?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_E_Blakesley
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