(RightWing.org) – For years, China has held the position of being the top global exporter of goods in the world. In 2022, it exported more than $3.7 trillion worth of products, and it’s highly efficient at fulfilling orders. What does the Asian nation do so well that it has created such a dominant shipping landscape? It turns out, it’s all in the organization and the people behind the scenes.
China’s Shipping Methods
China regularly ships out millions of packages a day, but it wouldn’t be able to do so if it wasn’t organized. Over the past few years, the nation has gone through quite a transformation, implementing new technology, where available, and making strategic investments. Due to these improvements, some packages now arrive at their US destinations in a matter of days, matching the delivery timelines of many domestic retailers — and they pay less overall.
China has the added benefit of having a vast manufacturing landscape. They produce millions of different types of goods and offer them for sale directly to US consumers on platforms such as DHGate, Alibaba, and AliExpress. These products are available for purchase at the click of a mouse and ship cheaply from China to the United States.
In fact, over the holiday season last year, two China-backed retailers took advantage of this and were rewarded significantly for their efforts. Temu and Shein, two lower-cost shopping platforms, had so many orders they were regularly shipping around one million packages per day to the US, per ShipMatrix, a parcel-shipping consultant. While it didn’t touch Amazon’s shipping rate, it certainly shows that there is a very large market available.
How it Affects the US
One of the worries with millions of Americans ordering direct from China is the effect it has on the US economy. Importing more goods from overseas means spending less at home as the money goes directly to Chinese companies. It means less support for American businesses and a potential downward trend in the US economy. This could then lead to the elimination of jobs and an increased unemployment rate, which is why there’s a big push for American-made goods.
On the flip side of that, China’s success could spark innovation in the West and help improve how the US does things. Changes in the domestic shipping landscape could help lower shipping prices and speed up delivery times, which could, in turn, drive more people to shop locally.
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