The logistics industry has a strong momentum of innovation and development, and multi-dimensional breakthroughs have helped economic growth

On the big stage of economic development, the logistics industry is driven by innovation, showing a vigorous development trend, and constantly injecting new vitality into economic growth.

According to the CCTV news client on February 27, low-altitude logistics, as an important application scenario of low-altitude economy, is reshaping the logistics and transportation pattern through technologies such as drones. In 2024, more than 140 new low-altitude logistics routes will be opened in China, with intra-city routes accounting for 90%. Beijing, Shanghai and other cities have opened more than 20 express and take-out transport routes for the delivery of all kinds of instant consumer goods. Cui Zhongfu, chief economist of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, said that the low-altitude logistics market has a broad space, and the order volume of the instant distribution industry exceeds 48 billion in 2024. It is expected that by 2035, China's UAV logistics output value is expected to exceed one trillion yuan, and the application market of drones in the logistics industry will grow at an annual rate of 20%.

On March 4, data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed that in February 2025, the prosperity index of China's logistics industry was 49.3%, down 0.4 percentage points from January. However, the new orders index came in at 50.6 per cent, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. The business activity expectation index was 54.4%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter. From the perspective of industry, the activity of road transport industry and railway transport industry is in the expansion range, the activity of water transport industry continues to improve, the logistics activity of multimodal transport and postal express sector continues to be active, and the total business index reached 55.6% and 66.3%, respectively.
March 4 is also a significant day in the logistics industry, SF Group and Yifly Air signed a cooperation agreement to order the first 100 ES1000 large ultra-short takeoff and landing unmanned transport aircraft. The ES1000 has a maximum takeoff weight of 4.5 tons, a commercial load of 1.5 tons and a range of 1,200 kilometers, and is expected to make its first test flight in July 2025. It adopts turbine hybrid power and distributed electric propulsion technology, which can realize ultra-short take-off and landing, significantly reduce the dependence on traditional airports, and complement the branch links in the "trunk and end" system of air transport. For remote areas, such as Chengdu city to Dege County, Ganzi prefecture, land transport more than 14 hours, while ES1000 UAV direct flight is only about 2 hours, is expected to increase the logistics time by more than 50%.

In terms of policy promotion, according to the Beijing News on February 26, the Ministry of Transport issued the List of key projects to open traffic logistics congestion and card points in order to promote transportation logistics to reduce cost, improve quality and increase efficiency, and the Ministry of Finance identified the third batch of 12 national comprehensive freight hubs to supplement the strong chain city. It also organized efforts to support the digital transformation and upgrading of highway and waterway transportation infrastructure, and conducted demonstrations in eight provinces including Beijing.
On March 5, at the first "Ministerial channel" of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress, Liu Wei, Minister of Transport, said that the logistics cost of the whole society in 2024 has been reduced by about 400 billion yuan, of which the transportation cost has been reduced by 280 billion yuan. This year, we will continue to promote transport logistics to reduce costs, improve quality and increase efficiency, and take greater steps in promoting a unified and open transport market.

The positive changes in the logistics industry in technological innovation, business expansion, policy support and other aspects are promoting the development of the entire industry in the direction of higher quality and higher efficiency, providing solid support for the sustained growth of the economy, and also bringing more convenience and possibility to people's lives.