China's logistics sector sustains growth

BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's logistics industry continued to rally as the import logistics improved and the holiday economy helped release consumption logistic demands, according to an industry report.

In the first ten months, social logistics rose 4.9 percent year on year to 278.3 trillion yuan (about 39.14 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. The growth rate was 0.1 percentage points higher than the first nine months.

In breakdown, logistics for industrial products went up 4.1 percent year on year, while that for imported goods climbed 13.5 percent, said the federation.

The federation says the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, with the help of supportive measures, drove the uptick of consumption logistic demands of catering, hotel, and retail industries.

In October alone, catering-related logistic demand surged 17 percent year on year, up 3.3 percentage points from that of September. The growth rate had picked up for two months in a row, according to the federation.