The Shenzhen port figures for freight forwarding are a direct reflection of manufacturing in the Pearl River Delta.As imports to China have also declined as a outcome of its personal domestic slowdown, the volume declines have been evident in each inbound and outbound containers.Inbound cargo consists of raw supplies and elements, which are then processed into finished goods for export at factories in the southern Guangdong, China’s financial powerhouse. The high level of import of raw supplies for subsequent processing and export means that the freight solutions sector in China has had a double whammy, as declines in manufacturing due to decreased demand for China import has a direct knock on impact on international freight visitors into China as nicely.Throughout this tough period, domestic demand in China has accounted for some increases in domestic container trade, and this has been welcome news for many a shipping company. Domestic demand has usually been noticed in increased trade in cargo from the south of China to the North.In common, the advantages of domestic freight transport have been experienced more in the Shanghai, northern ports such as Quingdao and Tianjin and the smaller sized ports, as they deal with a larger proportion of domestic trade by shipping companies.Nevertheless, spurred on by the impact of the international slowdown on China, Beijing has elevated its concentrate on enhancing the international freight transport infrastructure. The China government has spearheaded a raft of initiatives. This consists of each physical upgrades and revisions to the systems that affect international trade and international freight solutions.Other initiatives have also helped pave the way for the subsequent upturn, such as new direct shipping hyperlinks between China and Taiwan. Kaohsiung in Taiwan, which was the world’s third busiest container port in the 1990s,saw its ranking slip with China’s economic rise, as a lack of direct transportation links with China undermined its position and significance for the freight company.A deal in between the two former political rivals has renewed Chinese interest in the port, driving investment plans. Shipping companies previously produced pricey detours via third countries to get cargo from one side to the other. So the new direct shipping hyperlinks will make freight transport much more streamlined and price effective.Other initiatives associated to the freight solutions industry have also taken shape throughout the period of financial slowdown, putting China in a much better position as the recovery arrives.One interesting initiative has been a joint venture between America’s CYBRA Corporation and Key West Technologies which have joined forces with the Chinese Transport Ministry’s Water borne Transportation Institute (WTI) to create and manufacture container tracking devices for international freight. A joint venture, Beijing Intelligent Shipping Technologies (SST),has been set up to create intelligent shipping container devices and other intelligent transport tools to produce higher consignment visibility in maritime shipping. CYBRA, which is a developer and distributor of bar code software for IBM, will join its partners in developing the world’s only real finish-to-finish international tracking and monitoring solution for the freight services industry.As world leader in exports, despite the slowdown, China is thus taking a leadership role in provide chain tracking, monitoring and management. What could China freight forwarder do for you? You ask We tell.