Cold chain logistics is on fire

A few days ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during an inspection tour in Anhui that it is necessary to deeply grasp the phased new characteristics and requirements of development, adhere to the main direction of making the real economy stronger and better, focusing on the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries on the one hand, and strategic emerging industries on the other. To develop and grow, promote the accelerated development of the manufacturing industry towards digitalization, networking and intelligence, and improve the stability and modernization of the industrial chain supply chain.

 
　　 R&D and application of cutting-edge technologies, renewal and transformation of production equipment, innovative models to expand the market... In recent years, many companies in the real economy have actively transformed and upgraded with the support of relevant departments, showing a good momentum of development and opening up a broad space for growth. Starting today, this edition launches a series of reports on "Realizing, Strengthening and Optimizing the Real Economy", in-depth investigations and interviews of companies in the real economy such as cold chain logistics, ceramics, and straw utilization, reflecting the vivid practice of my country's real economy on the road to high-quality development.
 
　　From Australian steak, Thai mangosteen, Chilean cherries, to Xianju bayberry, Gannan navel orange, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs... In recent years, a variety of high-quality fresh foods have been delivered directly to the people's table through cold chain logistics. The accelerated upgrading of residents' food consumption demand and the ever-increasing requirements for food and drug circulation safety have brought the cold chain logistics industry to a golden period of growth.
 
　　 What is the current development status of my country's cold chain logistics industry? What efforts are needed to achieve high-quality development? The reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
 
　　The demand is strong, the business is soaring, and social capital pays close attention to——
 
　　The rapid development of the cold chain market
 
　　In the scorching sun, the logistics base in Tongzhou District of Beijing is very busy, with all kinds of refrigerated and frozen vehicles shuttled back and forth. After entering the JD cold chain warehouse, a chill came, and boxes of fresh food were just unloaded from the refrigerated truck, and then moved into the cold storage, sorted and processed, and waited for the delivery vehicle to go to supermarkets, restaurants, and residents' homes. From production, warehousing, transportation to sales, the system engineering that keeps the goods in a specified low temperature environment is cold chain logistics.
 
"This is a refrigerated area, 0-10 degrees Celsius, suitable for storing fruits and vegetables" "This is a frozen area, below minus 18 degrees Celsius, which mainly stores meat and prepared foods" "It's about to enter the'extreme cold storage', minus 35 degrees Celsius, Used to quickly freeze the "cold plates" placed in the freezer"... With reporters around, Fan Guoqiang, the head of operations of JD Cold Chain North China, showed unique sensitivity to temperature, "Temperature directly affects the quality of food. Like New Zealand sweet Shrimp must be stored below minus 23 degrees Celsius, higher than minus 18 degrees Celsius, and shrimp heads will turn black in a few days. Another example is Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs. The loss rate was as high as 1% before, but it can be reduced to 0.2% through the cold chain, which reduces Less loss!"
 
　　 Better quality, more varieties, more safety and more security... The accelerated upgrade of food consumption demand provides a valuable development opportunity for cold chain logistics. "Since 2014, JD Logistics began to get involved in the cold chain. In 2018, we relied on the service capabilities in warehousing, trunk transportation, distribution and other fields to launch the JD cold chain, opening up services to the society, and currently covering 30 provinces and nearly 90% of consumers "Ling Yanyu, head of JD’s cold chain planning, said that the company’s business volume has doubled in the past two years. "This year, fresh food e-commerce has developed rapidly, and the new demand for the cold chain market is huge. We plan to continue to expand the cold storage area."
 
　　 "Strong demand and rapid business growth" are the common feelings of many cold chain logistics companies. Hu Yuanyuan, general manager of the cold box area of ​​COSCO Shipping Container Lines, who has been engaged in cross-border cold chain logistics for a long time, said: "Before the domestic cold chain was not perfect, many high-quality agricultural products could not come in or go out. The domestic cold chain has developed rapidly in the past 10 years. , Making the cross-border circulation of agricultural products more convenient.” She said, for example, domestic consumers can now enjoy tropical fruits such as mangosteen and durian with “zero time difference” with Southeast Asian consumers. Some of China’s export agricultural products can be processed into semi-finished products and sold overseas. Added value.
 
　　 Demand has risen suddenly, attracting great attention from social capital, and competitors have entered one after another. Among them, there are platform companies that hold a lot of consumer resources, such as JD.com, SF Express, and Cainiao; there are real estate developers who are good at commercial real estate operations and hold warehousing resources, such as Vanke and Baoneng; and some have cold chain requirements and have already Food and agricultural products companies involved in related businesses, such as Bright Dairy's Lingxian Logistics and New Hope's Fresh Life Cold Chain.
 
The data also confirms the hotness of the cold chain market. According to the Ministry of Transport, the total demand for food cold chain logistics in my country increased from 153 million tons to 233 million tons from 2015 to 2019, an annual growth rate of more than 10%; in 2019, The total amount of food cold chain logistics is about 6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.7%. According to statistics from the Cold Chain Committee of the China Federation of Things, the number of refrigerated trucks nationwide last year was 214,700 units, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%, and the cold storage capacity reached 60.525 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%.
 
　　Environmental control is more refined and smarter, transportation organization is more powerful and efficient——
 
　　 Industry accelerates the pace of upgrading
 
　　 Log in to the account, enter the platform, click on a vehicle at will, and the temperature curve in the refrigerated compartment in the past few days will appear in front of you. "There are two temperature control probes and a host installed in the compartment, which can transmit data to the background in real time. Once the temperature is abnormal, the system will automatically alarm, and the staff will contact the driver to check and solve it in time." said Jiang Jianqiao, director of the North China Business Department of Lingxian Logistics. On the Yiliu technology platform, the company has realized the temperature control of the whole process of factories, warehouses and vehicles.
 
　　 Temperature control is the prerequisite and key to the development of cold chain logistics standards. In the past, due to inadequate monitoring methods, individual companies and truck drivers might turn off the cooler midway in order to save costs, causing a "broken link." "The maturity of the Internet of Things technology in recent years has made temperature control easier." Zhang Jingtao, chairman of Yiliu Technology, said that since 2010, companies have begun to use IoT devices such as positioning, temperature measurement, light sensing, cameras, and electronic locks. Collect data such as the location, status, and images of vehicles, warehouses, goods, and people to provide customers with a temperature control solution that "makes quality visible". "At present, the platform has access to more than 60,000 cold chain vehicles."
 
　　Technological development is an important driving force for the upgrading of the cold chain logistics industry. Looking to the future, whether it is "cold" (environmental control) or "chain" (transportation organization), there is still a lot of room for upgrading, and relevant companies have been working hard.
 
　　On the one hand, it makes the environment control more refined and smarter.
 
"Look at this 12-liter cold box for medicines. The material is exquisite, the package is tight, and 13 cold plates are packed to ensure that it is foolproof. The remaining space is only 1 liter." In Fan Guoqiang's view, the higher the product, the more logistics. The more exquisite, "In the past, medicines and vaccines were the most delicate. Now, many products have the same high requirements. The cold chain vehicles of the future cannot only have two temperature layers of refrigeration and freezing, but require more refined divisions."
 
"In ocean cross-border cold chain logistics, factors such as temperature, humidity, gas in the box, and the length of the voyage will affect the maturity of agricultural products after they arrive at the port. Therefore, we have been experimenting and exploring the best transportation solutions for different products. , Blueberries, etc. are neither raw nor fully cooked after "crossing the ocean"." According to Hu Yuanyuan, they are also developing a technical solution to make ocean cold chain transportation visible, controllable and traceable. "It has passed the test, and soon Will be widely promoted."
 
　　 On the other hand, it makes the transportation organization stronger and more efficient.
 
　　 On April 8, the 80103 train loaded with 16 refrigerated containers and 464 tons of cold and fresh food drove from Dalian to Harbin, becoming the first fixed-point and regular inter-provincial cold and fresh cargo train operating across the country. Many inter-provincial long-distance cold chain trains have been opened. HNA, SF Express, JD.com and other companies have actively carried out high value-added cargo cold chain transportation... In recent years, the railway and aviation sectors have also caught up, forming synergy with the road cold chain.
 
"Cold chain logistics involves multiple modes of transportation such as railways, roads, water transportation, aviation, postal express, etc., covering rural logistics, trunk transportation, urban distribution, and logistics warehousing, loading, unloading, and storage. In the future, we must fully Relying on the resources and advantages of various market entities, strengthen integration and sharing, and improve the efficiency of cold chain logistics." said the relevant person in charge of the Transportation Service Department of the Ministry of Transport.
 
　　 Speed ​​up to make up for shortcomings, improve relevant standards, and promote market integration——
 
　　Cold chain logistics urgently needs to tap the potential
 
　　 Looking back, the results are outstanding; looking at the future, the potential and space are still great. "The overall judgment is that the foundation of my country's cold chain logistics development is still weak, and there is still a certain gap between development needs." The relevant person in charge of the Transportation Service Department of the Ministry of Transport said that in the next step, we must focus on improving the technical level of facilities and equipment and optimizing the transportation organization model. , To promote the formation of a cold chain logistics service system with full temperature control, standards and specifications, efficient operation, safe and green.
 
　　-It is necessary to speed up making up for shortcomings and solve outstanding problems such as the "first kilometer" and "last kilometer".
 
"In the past, due to the underdeveloped cold chain logistics in the'first kilometer' of the production area, seasonal fruits and vegetables were often unsalable, and it was impossible to achieve staggered listings and agricultural industrialization processing, resulting in agricultural product losses." Qin Yuming, Secretary-General of the Cold Chain Committee of China Federation of Things It is believed that the origin of agricultural products is the focus of improving the cold chain logistics system in the next step. "Since this year, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce have successively issued a series of support policies to encourage agricultural products to'exit villages and enter cities'. Enterprises should seize Take advantage of the opportunity."
 
　　 Cancel toll stations on provincial boundaries of expressways and create "green channels" for fresh agricultural products... Last year, driven by a series of policies, the efficiency of medium and long-distance cold chain vehicles has improved. However, in some cities, due to stricter control over the passage of freight vehicles, the cold chain terminal distribution faces problems such as "difficulty entering the city, difficult passage, and difficult parking". Qin Yuming called on relevant departments to improve policies and appropriately relax traffic controls on cold chain vehicles to open up the "last mile". In recent years, Shanghai has carried out beneficial explorations-scientifically and rationally plan the driving routes, parking locations and time periods of cold chain and other delivery vehicles in urban areas, and fully grant its urban traffic rights and parking rights.
 
　　-Relevant standards must be improved to make the development of the industry rule-based and more standardized.
 
　　 In recent years, the Ministry of Transport has successively issued industry standards such as road cold chain transportation service rules, driving temperature recorder technical requirements, etc., so that cold chain transportation links have more standard support. "Currently, the market demand and customer structure faced by cold chain logistics are undergoing profound changes, and new requirements for services are put forward. Improving the standard system will be the only way for cold chain logistics." Qin Yuming believes. Ling Yanyu also said that the cold chain is very long. In addition to transportation, there are multiple links such as production, distribution, and warehousing. "This requires the joint efforts of relevant departments to create a more detailed and complete cold chain standard system that covers all links. ."
 
"As labor costs rise and cold chain transportation demand increases, standardized refrigerated containers that facilitate transfer between different modes of transportation will come in handy." said the person in charge of the container building section of COSCO Shipping, promoting cold chain logistics facilities and technologies Equipment standardization is also the key to the development of industry norms.
 
　　——To promote market integration and promote the intensive and large-scale development of the industry.
 
　　 At present, my country's cold chain logistics market is relatively fragmented, and the sales revenue of the top 100 companies only accounts for about 10% of the market share. "The cold chain logistics industry now is a bit like the express delivery industry 10 years ago." Xijie Rongqing Logistics President Xiong Xingming believes that with the increase in social capital attention, the industry will definitely accelerate its integration in the next few years. In the next step, the Ministry of Transport and other departments will also accelerate the cultivation of leading enterprises, support and guide enterprises to integrate supply chain resources, develop advanced organizational methods such as multimodal transportation, drop-and-hook transportation, and joint distribution, and promote the intensive and large-scale development of cold chain logistics .