2010-06-23 16:34

Chinese currency's adjustment relative to the US dollar ushers in a niche market for Chinese express companies, management consultancy firm A.T. Kearney's research shows.

The inbound payment-by-buyers express market will draw more attention when the yuan appreciation boosts Chinese demand for import goods，said Li Jian, manager of A.T. Kearney China, which recently published the China Transportation and Logistics Industry Outlook (2010-2015).

Overseas exporters would in the past tie the delivery fees to the de-facto price of goods and would entrust delivery to a certain company, say FedEx. Now the trend is toward decoupling, allowing the buyer to decide which express company they want to use, Li explained.

More China-based decision makers may prefer to pay their import goods in yuan when they are delivered and China's plan to expand the yuan cross-border settlement pilot program to 20 provinces and all foreign countries and regions involved makes this possible, according to Li.

"Thus, the new market has emerged," Li said, but he doubted domestic express companies would grasp this opportunity.

Chinese companies seem not as prepared as their foreign peers, as they seldom do sales promotions, Li added.