With the former top-performing provinces of Guangdong and Shandong stepping aside, what trends has Anhui, now the new leader in cargo volume, capitalized on?

The timing of the transition from old to new growth drivers appears to be creating opportunities for new growth. Manufacturing is evolving, and so is logistics.

In 2020, Anhui Province’s total freight volume surpassed that of Guangdong, a traditional manufacturing powerhouse, securing the top spot nationwide. Notably, this leap in scale has been driven largely by emerging factors, marking a significant milestone for the logistics sector, which has long been locked in a battle over existing market share and plagued by homogeneous competition.

In recent years, investment cases like those in NIO and BOE have branded Hefei as… The label of “the strongest investment institution.” Whether through public–private partnerships or strategic investments in emerging industries, Anhui Province appears to have harnessed the momentum driving new growth.

So, which opportunities has the province that now leads in cargo volume seized? And how will this impact the development of the logistics industry?
 

Placing a strong emphasis on smart manufacturing to seize new growth drivers.

Industrial restructuring and the transition from old to new growth drivers are increasingly reflected in the logistics sector, with the latter embodying the forces that will shape the future.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, since… Since 2019, Anhui Province’s freight volume has surpassed that of Guangdong Province; by 2021, Anhui once again claimed the top spot with a total freight volume of 401.415 billion tons. Behind this substantial volume lies a total social logistics value of RMB 8.08226 trillion, up 15.1% year on year—5.9 percentage points higher than the national average.

Image source: Yunlian Think Tank

According to industry insiders, Anhui has long been renowned as the “capital of white goods” and the “capital of fried snacks,” and in recent years it has consistently absorbed industrial relocation from the Yangtze River Delta. Logistics companies have noticed a steady increase in cargo volumes to the province, yet they have not yet fully grasped the extent of this growth relative to Guangdong, which remains a major manufacturing hub.

There is also a view that Anhui Province is indeed experiencing a trend of growing freight volumes, though its position as the top-ranked province in this regard remains subject to skepticism. Looking at 2017—the turning point for freight‑volume growth—this was the year of the pilot program for online freight services; it cannot be ruled out that settlements were recorded in Anhui while the actual movement of goods did not take place within the province.

However, judging from the steady growth in its freight volumes, Anhui must be doing something right—much like the well-known story of the Hefei government and NIO.

In April 2020, Hefei Construction Investment, in partnership with a third-tier state‑owned capital platform, acquired NIO for RMB 7 billion, helping the company emerge from its crisis while also generating substantial returns for the Hefei government. From a financial perspective, in 2020 and 2021, NIO spent RMB 7.5 billion to repurchase shares originally valued at RMB 1.5 billion, securing more than five times its initial investment. More importantly, this move allowed the local government to gain a foothold in the new‑energy vehicle industry chain and board the fast‑growing bandwagon.

Image source: NIO official website

Of course, in addition to investing in NIO, the Hefei government had already recouped its investment earlier by reinvesting in BOE. RMB 50 billion. In this process, the government selects projects, injects state‑owned capital to gain entry into the capital markets, and then exits through the same market—this pattern has also played out in the cases of NIO and CXMT.

Looking at the development of China’s private sector, there are numerous cases—such as Jianlibao, Kelon, Huachen, and Sanjiu—in which enterprises suffered defeat in the interplay between government and business. By contrast, Anhui Province has demonstrated astute judgment by successfully transitioning from a government‑led to a market‑driven model.

Meanwhile, behind Anhui Province’s high success rate in deploying new industries lies a well‑established strategic approach. — “Dual Attraction and Dual Introduction,” namely, attracting investment and talent, as well as recruiting expertise and wisdom.

In implementing this approach, Anhui Province has fostered a favorable investment climate for emerging industries across multiple dimensions, including policy, governance, the business environment, financing, and talent development.

For example, a provincial-level task force mechanism has been established to advance the ten emerging industries, with tailored plans being developed for each one. A roadmap and detailed implementation plan for the “Dual Attraction” initiative; in terms of the administrative environment, we will ensure zero‑distance service and zero‑tolerance for buck-passing, striving to build a government that is service‑oriented, accountable, rule‑of‑law‑based, and trustworthy. By enhancing government efficiency, we will ensure project implementation, facilitate enterprise commencement, and foster the development of new production capacity.

For another example, for introduced projects, establish a set of… A closed-loop management system covering the pre‑, during‑, and post‑implementation phases ensures that project attraction is planned ahead of time, with detailed “blueprints” drawn up to position work well in advance of project commencement. Upon site entry, the “standard land” reform is rolled out to enable projects to start construction immediately upon securing land, further accelerating project implementation. Following completion, an evaluation mechanism is established to ensure that projects deliver results as soon as possible.

Based on this, the Anhui Provincial Government has explicitly stated that, During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, ten emerging industries will be vigorously developed, specifically including the next-generation information technology industry, the new-energy vehicle and intelligent connected vehicle industry, the digital creative industries, the high-end equipment manufacturing industry, the new energy and energy‑saving and environmental protection industries, the green food industry, the life and health industry, the smart home appliance industry, the new materials industry, and the artificial intelligence industry.

From the perspective of industrial planning, its emphasis on smart manufacturing—into which it has heavily invested—represents a key lever for transitioning from old to new growth drivers, while also enabling it to position itself for the future and seize the engine of rapid economic expansion.

At least judging from the current growth in freight volumes and Judging by GDP growth, it appears that the emerging industries that Anhui Province has strategically developed in recent years are now yielding substantial benefits.

Develop a long industrial chain and pursue cluster-based development.

As new developments took shape, various regions began to see the emergence of… Terms like “extending the industrial chain, supplementing the chain, consolidating the chain, and strengthening the chain” signify that, in planning for new initiatives, localities are guided not by the notion of a single factory, but by the concept of industrial clusters.

As the economy enters a stage of high-quality development, the prevailing development paradigm is also shifting—moving from being the world’s manufacturing hub to cultivating world-class emerging industry clusters.

Anhui Province has also explicitly stated that, in… During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, five world-class strategic emerging industry clusters will be developed: new display technologies, integrated circuits, new-energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles, artificial intelligence, and smart home appliances.

In other words, by extending the industrial chain around its existing leading companies—such as BOE, Geely, and NIO—the approach is simply to… “Bringing in” foreign investment; meanwhile, Guangdong Province, a long-standing manufacturing powerhouse, is also pursuing transformation and upgrading centered on its advantageous trillion-yuan industries, such as consumer electronics, furniture, and home appliances.

Looking at the high-growth new‑energy vehicle sector in recent years, in addition to Anhui Province’s industrial strategy centered on investing in NIO, established automakers such as Geely, Volkswagen, JAC, and WM Motor have also embarked on the transition to new energy, demonstrating strong growth potential. For example, from… Looking at October’s new-energy-vehicle sales figures, Geely has already reached a sales volume of nearly 40,000 units.

Beyond the traditional automotive‑parts industry centered around OEMs, batteries—accounting for more than half of the components in new‑energy vehicles—are emerging as a distinct and rapidly growing sector. Consequently, for the entire new‑energy vehicle value chain, strategic positioning in the battery industry has become a top priority.

Founded in In 2006, Gotion High‑Tech began ramping up its efforts in recent years, breaking into the second tier of the power‑battery industry. Hefei is not only the company’s founding location but also a key production base for its power batteries. In its most recent plant‑construction plan, Gotion High‑Tech announced that it intends to invest RMB 6.7 billion to build a power‑battery project in Hefei’s Xinzhuan District, with an annual capacity of 20 GWh.

Image source: Gotion High-Tech official website

Meanwhile, established automakers are also stepping up their efforts. On November 8, despite strong growth in new-energy vehicle sales, Geely’s battery production capacity remained severely inadequate. Consequently, the company decided to build another power‑battery manufacturing base in Xuancheng, Anhui, dedicated to producing lithium‑iron‑phosphate batteries, thereby ensuring a stable supply of batteries and targeting an annual production capacity of 12 GWh.

In other words, in the process of attracting investment, Anhui is not only entering industries with high‑certainty growth prospects, but is also focusing on… By “serving leading enterprises well and covering the entire industrial chain,” we aim to extend and strengthen the value chain, thereby fostering cluster‑based industrial development.

How can logistics extract a premium from this?

From From the consumer‑side perspective, Anhui Province’s hottest figure right now is undoubtedly “Xiao Yang Ge” in the live‑commerce space, who also became the first TikTok creator to surpass 100 million followers. Riding the wave of the live‑commerce boom, publicly available data show that over the past year and a half, Anhui has consistently ranked first in the Yangtze River Delta region in terms of growth rate for express delivery volume.

Of course, for the logistics industry, it is particularly noteworthy that, behind the rapid growth in freight volumes seen in provinces like Anhui, two key concepts are emerging as central to the industrial upgrading process: industrial chains and high quality.

For logistics companies accustomed to competing on price in a highly commoditized market, this could represent a breakthrough.

Image source: Internet

In fact, in the past, the logistics industry’s production hubs were concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, where the sector was largely dominated by contract manufacturers. Companies reaped the benefits of a labor‑cost advantage, while the logistics industry itself earned only meager profits.

Meanwhile, as industrial structures are reshaped and new industries are strategically positioned, traditional manufacturing is transitioning to smart manufacturing. Sectors such as new energy, semiconductor chips, and high-end medical devices are driving the emergence of entirely new market segments. Likewise, logistics companies have evolved from an era of competing on volume and price to one focused on delivering value-added services and benchmarking service quality, thereby breaking free from the vicious cycle of diseconomies of scale and embarking on a path of sustainable growth.

Meanwhile, as emerging industries evolve toward cluster‑based development, logistics may no longer be a single point but rather an end-to-end chain. In other words, industrial chains are now driving the evolution of supply chains; competing on price at a single touchpoint is losing its strategic edge and will increasingly become a thing of the past. Instead, creating value across the entire fulfillment chain and identifying opportunities for optimization will become enduring priorities for logistics enterprises.

Overall, as a major new hub for freight volume, Anhui Province’s growth in cargo throughput reflects the transformation and upgrading of its traditional manufacturing sector—processes that are, in turn, driving corresponding upgrades across the supply chain and logistics industries. This could herald a fresh opportunity for logistics firms, which have been navigating an economic downturn in recent years.