Center

Air cargo industry takes flight

By Lu Haoting (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-11 09:01

"The government encourages foreign capital and private capital to develop air cargo transportation and encourages the establishment of all cargo airlines," Sha told an air cargo summit recently.

Under Chinese regulations, a foreign company is allowed to buy a stake of up to 25 per cent in a Chinese airline, while the combined stakes held by foreign investors are limited to 49 per cent.

The government has issued a series of policies to encourage the growth of the air cargo industry over the past two years. They include simplifying the process required to buy or lease imported freighters, allowing newly established domestic cargo carriers to launch international routes, and encouraging airports to adopt preferential policies when charging cargo airlines.

Liu Shaocheng, director of the CAAC's policy research department, attributed those encouraging policies to the role air cargo transportation plays in China's economy.
"An efficient aviation logistics system will enhance the competitiveness of China as the world's manufacturing centre," Liu said.

China is the fastest growing trans-Pacific air cargo market, according to Boeing's statistics. With an annual growth rate of nearly 18 per cent since 1995, the China-North America air cargo market has surpassed the Japan-North America market. Boeing suggests China's air cargo market will see above average growth for the next 20 years.

"By any measure, this is an exciting market," said Andreas Otto, a member of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo.

But China's continuing trade imbalance is a challenge faced by the entire air cargo industry, Otto said.

The country's trade surplus reached US$102 billion in 2005, nearly tripling that in the previous year. The Sino-US trade surplus amounted to US$114 billion last year while China's trade surplus with the European Union reached US$70 billion.

The trade imbalance results in an air cargo traffic imbalance and airlines having to chase after limited inbound cargo.