Why China’s trade outlook has its industry workers worried that the ‘good days’ are gone
- As companies diversify trade and source more goods from Southeast Asia, with fewer shipments to United States, supply-chain shifts and weakened global demand are raising concerns
- One container driver says he is looking to sell his truck, as only about 30,000 of the 50,000 registered container trucks in Shanghai are currently needed
On the road leading to Shanghai’s bustling Waigaoqiao container port, truck traffic was light on a recent weekday. Not far away, row after row of corrugated-metal containers test the limits of stacking in the limited port space.
Most of these cargo containers remain empty, according to Mr Wang, a worker at the port who decline to give his full name because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
“We’ve been a bit busier than the past two months, but the change hasn’t been major,” Wang said. “Trucks had to queue in long lines in the past, waiting to load and unload. But now, as you can see, the road is clear.”
Although the latest official figures suggest there was a considerable rebound in China’s foreign trade last month, logistics workers in Shanghai – the world’s largest container port – have found the recovery slow, and their long-term outlook remains cautiously pessimistic.