The first major domestic outgrowth of a November 2010 agreement between the Port of Oakland and China Merchants Holdings International occurred last week when representatives of the port and CMHI jointly hosted a symposium in Oakland.
Entitled “Blueprint for China’s Shipping and Logistics Growth,” the event focused on expanding trade volume to fulfill the port’s number one goal of growing its maritime business, while also supporting the objective of President Obama’s National Export Initiative that seeks to double domestic export volumes by 2015. The symposium detailed China’s demographic, manufacturing and sourcing trends; outlined the role of public and private enterprise necessary for transportation infrastructure and logistics facilities to meet future demand; and explored views on transportation and logistics challenges when importing from and exporting to China.
Oakland, one of the leading export ports for US agriculture products, signed the agreement with CMHI to strategically market and develop supply chain solutions for US exports, particularly agricultural commodities and perishable products.
Officially signed in a ceremony at China Merchants’ Hong Kong headquarters, the agreement focused on enhancing warehousing and logistics facilities and creating seamless cold chain services for US companies exporting their perishable products to China.
According to port officials, the agreement is part of the port's effort to "aggressively coordinating its activities" with the federal National Export Initiative signed by President Barack Obama in March.
China Merchants recently formed a joint venture – China Merchants Americold Logistics – in partnership with US-based Americold, one of the largest cold chain providers in North America. According to Oakland port officials, this venture seeks to solidify the joint venture entity as China’s premier third-party temperature-controlled logistics provider, operating an integrated platform across 15 cities in China.
Friday, March 11, 2011
