Abstract：

With a rapid economic development and marketliberalization, Chinese government and enterprises recognize the importance ofThird-party logistics (TPL) development, and make efforts to establishcompetitive TPL industry within China’smarket. Nowadays, more and more foreign TPL firms enter China’s market andcompete with domestic TPL companies. 

This paper emphasized on the development andconstraints of TPL in China.In order to provide a clear and complete picture, the author tries best tocollect both primary data via interview and secondary data from journals,reports and internet and so on. In the process of investigation, due to opendoor policy and market liberalization, central government encourages moreforeign TPL companies with financial strength and strong logistics capabilitiesto enter China’slogistics market in the form of joint venture. Therefore, due to complementaryresources, not only can domestic partners obtain foreign investment andadvanced logistics skills, but also foreign TPL firms can access to localmarket and establish local business network. Also, TPL’s E-logistics service canpromote efficiency and effectiveness of products and information flow based oninternet, so that can enhance satisfaction of customer’s real demand in atimely manner. 

Unfortunately, not only does poor logistics infrastructurein transportation mode directly constrain future expansion and development oflogistics firms, but also lower quality of human labor and training systemnegatively impact daily logistics operation. Meanwhile, in government aspect,local protectionism based on province obstruct the free flow of products andservices within China, and it is difficult to achieve advanced logisticsoperation such as inter-modal transport and logistics integration due to lackof coordination and cooperation among governmental ministries and institutions.Moreover, self-logistics, undifferentiated demand and unbalanced logisticsdevelopment discourage China’sTPL firms in future development. Therefore, China’s TPL firms mainly focus onbasic level of logistics services such as transportation and warehousing, whichcan be considered as emerging development stage. 

In future, Chinashould focus on moreinvestment to upgrade logistics infrastructure and improve the quality of humanlabor, and make efforts to implement value-added logistics services in future. Meanwhile,China’sTPL enterprises should absorb advanced logistics concepts and knowledge fromwestern countries in order to enhance competitiveness around the world.

Key Words:

Development   Constraints  Emerging stage  MarketEnvironment    Infrastructureupgrade  Logisticsintegration and cooperation