Competitiveness Of China's Express Delivery Industry

As an important part of logistics industry, the express industry has benefited the most from economic development and grown into a booming industry. Good perspectives drive the competitors, including state-owned enterprises, private enterprises and foreign enterprises, into a fierce competition. During the recent years, the Chinese express industry has developed far more rapidly than GDP. With the smooth development of Chinese economics after entering WTO, the Chinese express industry has achieved a scale of 40 billions yuan. Fat profit return, huge potential as well as lower market entry barriers attract enterprises within the same industry and the outside ones. Since the entry of foreign enterprises, especially the big four (UPS, FedEx, DHL and TNT)'s frequent joint venture, merge and single proprietorship, it brings unprecedented challenges to the Chinese express industry.The aim of this essay is to bring up advices and measures about improving the Chinese express industry's competitiveness through complete analysis and valuation of the Chinese express, as well as finding the gap between the Chinese express industry and foreign's.During the research, the essay makes a general review of the express industry at home and abroad first, then it summaries the status of the Chinese express industry. It has been 30 years since China imported the express industry in 1979, now the Chinese express market has generally grown into three segment markets together with three market players, 30 thousand enterprises or so as a whole. For now the Chinese express market presents a fierce competition among different kinds of competitors and transport ways, such as state-owned enterprises, private enterprises and foreign enterprises. The Chinese express market increases rapidly, with an average growth of 22.7% in business and 18.6% in income. It increased steadily by over 20% in business and income even during the economic crises in 2008. As to the evaluation of competitiveness, this essay uses Porter's Diamond Model theory for reference to a thorough assessment by the following points: factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, firm strategy, structure and rivalry, government, chance. While evaluating, the essay focuses on using the contrast of foreign enterprises to find the shortage of the Chinese express industry. The essay finally makes a conclusion that the Chinese express industry's competitiveness is still in a lower level, with a great improvement space left.The change, globality and uncertainty of the world economy brings many chances and threats to express enterprises, obviously the research towards the express'competitiveness should not pay attention to the interior factors only. Especially for the Chinese express which's inferior in strength because of lack in basic network facility, technology and core competitiveness, it should pay special attention the distanvtage influence of the entire express industry's structural shortage. This essay points out that, in order to promote the competitiveness of the Chinese express, it needs the government's support and guide, as well as the merger and coalition strategies.