China is currently the world’s second largest economy and the European Union’s second largest trading partner behind the US. European companies that are seeking to export to China face many exciting possibilities and prospects, but they also face challenges, including logistical issues involved with getting physical goods from Europe to the Chinese customer over 8,000 km away.
Logistics is more than transportation of goods, and a solid strategy will need to be in place in order to get goods to China in the right time, for the right price. Logistical planning is a very complex process and any European exporter will need professional logistical support services to help them to get their strategy right. Whether shipping by air, land or sea, it would be ill advised for any European exporter not to have an end-to-end understanding of their own supply chain, and the options which are available to them.
For this project the EU SME Centre has partnered with the China-Britain Business Council to prepare a guide and introduction to China related logistics and distribution issues which European SMEs will need to navigate. This report looks at the following aspects of logistics and distribution for European SMEs exporting to China, with a particular attention to specific issues for three focus areas: Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals, GreenTech products as well as certain issues in the Food & Beverage sector.
