A push by some of China’s largest companies to dominate the global logistics industry — reinforced by government calls to build a “new Silk Road” — is driving a surge in Chinese acquisitions overseas of warehousing, trucking and other logistics operators.
Total announced acquisitions by Chinese groups of logistics companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere more than doubled to $32.2bn in the first 11 months of this year, up from $12.9bn in the whole of 2016, according to figures compiled by Grisons Peak, a London-based investment bank.
The moves complement an upsurge in Chinese overseas port acquisitions in the year to June, over which time $20.1bn in nine deals was announced. The geographical distribution of the logistics acquisitions, like the port deals before them, correspond with the area covered by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a grandiose project to revamp Silk Road commerce between Asia and Europe.