March 30, eNorth from Hong Kong: Tianjin Port is one of the main hubs in China, which has trade communications with over 300 ports of more than 160 countries in the world. It is an important trade port in Northern Chian and also the shortest passage with the largest amount of transportation routes in Euro-Asia Continent Bridge. Its handling capacity reaches nearly 100 million tons and the handling capacity of standard containers is 1.71 million; Tianjin's railway is one of the important railway hubs in China with the annual transportation amount of over 100 million tons; Tianjin Airport is one of the four big air transportation bases in China with the handling capacity of goods and mails of 200 thousand tons; among Tianjin's highway network, there are highway hubs which are mainly used for transporting passengers and goods, many national and main highways pass through Tianjin and the highway density of Tianjin is in the top list in China.

At present, Tianjin has already constructed 7,000km optical fibre lines, the equipping capacity of telephone at home is 2.6 million and mobile phones 1.1 million and the annual output value of electronic information industry is RMB45 billion. Along with the finish of "Tianjin Broad Band Multi-media Trans-city Information Network Construction Programme", the transmitting speed of the information network will be highly raised, which offers solid information system support to the development strategy of modern logistics.

At present, a comparatively modern international freight forwarding industry is forming. By the end of 1999, Tianjin had owned 105 international freight forwarding enterprises, which indicates that a powerful freight forwarding industry group has formed.

Tianjin's modern logistics is facing some problems. Because of the shortages of fund and talents, the underdeveloped technologies, the low quality of most freight forwarding enterprises and poor sevice function, the facilities of some logistics service center are crude, the scale of them is limited and the management is backward. In addition, the laws and regulations of encouraging, supporting and regulationg logistics are not perfect. Because of all the above reasons, the turnover time of industrial enterprises' cargo is 83 days and the logistics cost takes up 37% of the industrial added value. That's apparenly lagged behind the developed countries.

The strategic aim: In implementing the strategic aim of evaluating the urban function of Tianjin, raising the economic competetive ability and influence of Tianjin, with Tianjin's advantages of traffic and location, reasonably constructing Tianjin's modern logistics system, importing and adopting advanced logistics organizations, technologies and management experiences in a large amount and cultivating and developing logistics industry group of strong competetive ablity in order to construct Tianjin to an important central logistics city both in China and in Northwestern Asia.

The phase aim: Making out the embryonic form of Tianjin's modern logistics in three years which should also reach the domestic leading level; constructing a comparatively perfect modern logistics system with certain international competetive ability in five years; making both the infrastructure and the management system of Tianjin's modern logistics match the international standard.

Major measures: Speeding up the construction of logistics infrastructure; speeding up the construction of logistics information platform; developing both the international and the domestic logistics; spreading and popularizing modern logistics management concepts and technologies; formulating and implementing reasonable industry policies; implementing the talent-developing strategy and cultivating multi-leveled logistics talents.

(Journalists: Zhang Huijun, Wang Wei)