Since entering the 21st century, China's cold chain logistics industry has developed rapidly. By the end of 2005, the "Five Vertical and Two Horizontal Green Channels" network for the circulation of fresh agricultural products had been basically established nationwide, and the first low-cost transportation network for fresh agricultural products had been built nationwide, ushering in a new era of rapid development for China's cold chain logistics refrigeration equipment. Cold chain logistics has the characteristics of complexity, coordination, and high cost, and is suitable for fields such as fruits and vegetables, poultry and eggs, aquatic products, frozen food, dairy products, flowers, and pharmaceuticals.
Cold chain logistics refers to the systematic engineering of keeping refrigerated and frozen products in a low-temperature environment at all stages of production, storage, transportation, sales, and consumption to ensure product quality and reduce material loss. The cold chain logistics industry in China has emerged in the context of accelerated specialization and specialized market segmentation. Due to the rise of chain distribution systems for refrigeration equipment, refined specialization, and the gradual popularization and maturity of low-temperature food, cold chain logistics has attracted people's attention. Cold chain logistics also includes industries such as refrigeration equipment, cold storage, transportation, logistics, etc. Its development can drive the related development of multiple industries and accelerate the growth rate of China's population.
The Development Plan for Cold Chain Logistics of Agricultural Products clearly stipulates that enterprises are encouraged to build low-temperature preservation facilities in the production and sales areas, achieve low-temperature control from the source, establish a cold chain logistics system with production enterprises as the core, and achieve efficient docking of cold chain logistics in the production and sales markets. Encourage large retail enterprises to develop fresh food distribution centers and provide third-party cold chain logistics services. By implementing a combination of government and market promotion, the upstream and downstream of cold chain logistics refrigeration equipment will be integrated into a supply chain, further strengthening the research and promotion of cold chain logistics technology and new technologies. China's cold chain logistics will truly enter a golden period of development.
In recent years, the development of China's cold chain logistics industry has rapidly extended from the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions to the Bohai Rim and central western regions. The role of the cold chain logistics industry in improving the quality and efficiency of national economic growth has become increasingly evident. Cold chain logistics enterprises have further grown, and the concentration of the refrigeration equipment market has significantly increased. Supply chain management is showing an accelerated development trend, and value-added businesses have become new growth points. Cold chain logistics clusters have developed rapidly, and the increasing demand has intensified competition in the domestic cold chain logistics refrigeration equipment market. The segmented markets of fruit and vegetable cold chain logistics, dairy cold chain logistics, meat cold chain logistics, and aquatic cold chain logistics maintain a good development momentum and gradually move towards standardization.
The construction of cold storage facilities and the growth rate of the refrigeration equipment industry all demonstrate that the influence of the development of cold chain logistics cannot be underestimated, let alone underestimated. In the future development of the industry, various industries related to cold chain and the upstream and downstream of cold chain logistics will have better linkage trends.