US-China trade war manufacturing exodus creating boom times for Chinese logistics companies

The trade war has created an unlikely winner: the cross-border logistics companies facilitating the exodus of Chinese manufacturers

Guangzhou-based R&T Transportation helped 10 firms move their entire plant out of China since 2018 and 500 companies to move part of production

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Shipping containers are seen at a port in Haiphong, Vietnam. More Chinese companies are fleeing to Southeast Asia to avoid trade war tariffs, creating opportunities for Chinese logistics companies helping them to move. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:30am, 22 May 2019Updated: 11:03am, 22 May 2019

The US-China trade war has created an unlikely winner: the Chinese logistics companies facilitating the exodus of manufacturers looking to dodge tariffs.

The supply chain shift has been claimed as a victory by US President Donald Trump, who tweeted: “Many tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia.”

This prompted a rebuke from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, which denied that manufacturers were leaving China in their droves.

However, plenty of on the ground accounts suggest that factories are being downsized or closed completely, with firms moving to Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia. This is not solely due to the trade war, since the rising cost of labour and meeting environmental regulations in China have also led to companies seeking cheaper production hubs over recent years.

A truck park in a parking lot in Guangzhou. Logistics companies from China’s southern hub are facilitating the movement of plants out of China and into Southeast Asian countries. Photo: Huifeng He

But the tariffs have accelerated the trend, and logistics companies with cross-border capability are milking the opportunities, moving the growing traffic of Chinese firms from China’s industrial heartlands and newly-built industrial parks in neighbouring countries.

“Since the second half of 2018, our company has helped 10 manufacturers – in sectors from jewellery, to electronics, to printing – relocate their entire plant. That is to say, these 10 enterprises have completely shifted and withdrawn from China,” said Eric Huang, who runs one of the leading logistics companies in Guangzhou, R&T Transportation.