Singapore's GLP to build 100 cold storage facilities

GLP Group, a Singapore-based logistics and industrial infrastructure provider, plans to build 100 cold storage facilities across China by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), said one of its senior executives.

GLP will also deploy resources to build facilities that can store pharmaceutical products and support the supply chains of China's agricultural products in certain areas.

The dual-circulation growth paradigm, consumers' growing demand for fresh food, beverages and other products, digital technologies and favorable regional trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are all encouraging GLP Group to invest more in China, said Lu Yanjing, vice-president for Global Freezer Services, a subsidiary of GLP that operates 400 logistic and industrial parks, innovation parks, data centers and office facilities across China.

Proposed by the central leadership, the dual-circulation development pattern underlines innovation, opening-up and boosting domestic demand among the top tasks to be accomplished during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

The new paradigm sees domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulation reinforcing each other.

GLP Group has completed building 12 cold storage facilities in Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Wuhan and Dalian. Their total designed operational space is 2 million square meters, Lu said.

All these warehouses will be installed with 5G and other digital tools and next-generation energy storage equipment to control the temperature and save on costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the growth potential of the stay-at-home economy, as more people remained at home longer and enjoyed more fresh food, snacks and beverages since the outbreak of the pandemic, she said.

It is also vital for GLP to continue to support supply chains in China's rural areas to transport more agricultural products to cities directly, she said.

"The booming China-Europe freight train services will also bring more European foodstuffs like meat, wine, fruit, seafood and dairy products into China over the next several years, creating more space for the cold storage business," she said.

"As China is on course to becoming a high-income country, its massive domestic market keeps expanding."

Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce, said China's middle-income population will rise steadily and may reach 800 million in the next 14 years.

The country's 1.4 billion population, buoyed by a booming economy, will make them a significant consumption force in the world, Qian said at an economic forum held by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges last month.

Demand-side management is a component of the dual-circulation development pattern. Even though stiff challenges continue to trouble the supply side, the government and businesses may place great importance on demand-side management as well, as the new paradigm's strategic focus is on expanding domestic demand, said Zhou Zhicheng, a researcher at the market research department of the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

With the residents' income and consumption upgrade accelerating, some high-quality and diversified consumer demand can be further released this year, Zhou said.

However, some consumption facilities are not mature enough and the convenience of consumption needs to be improved, he said.