Interview of the week - Hisiang Logistics - China

David took his bachelor degree in economics from the famous China business school in 1997 and carried on with his EMBA program in Qinghua University. He has more than 20 years of working experience in logistics industry.

Tell us about Hisiang Logistics. Who owns the company?

Established in 1993, Hisiang Logistics Company Limited is one of the oldest private logistics companies In China. Hisiang has grown from 6 people to a 100 people team. Since our establishment, we have earned our good name in China market, because we believe in “We are only successful, when we assist our clients to achieve success”.

We not only work on each shipment but also build up a long-term partnership with our customers and agents to take continuous care of them. That is why we have been the designated core logistics partners of some multinational companies in China such as Siemens/China, China Petroleum, Sinopec, Cnooc etc.

Hisiang Logistics is owned by three shareholders who play important roles in the daily business including Mr David Yan (CEO), Mr Steven Fu (CFO) and Mr Bo Cheng. Since founded, we are united together to make Hisiang become better and better.

Where are your offices located?

We have four offices in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan. Geographically, we cover the whole of China. Beijing, as our head office, mainly covers northern China. Shanghai branch mainly covers eastern China ports and cities.

Guangzhou branch mainly covers southern China. Wuhan branch mainly covers middle and south-west China.

What is Hisiang Logistics’s specialty and service range?

Hisiang has a team of logistics experts proving logistics solutions to customers from world top 500 to medium sized companies. We provide logistics services for general trading, manufacturer and project cargo etc., covering different commodities.

Our service range includes:

Air freight / Ocean freight / Rail freight / Project handling / Cross-border rail and trucking / Customs brokage / Packing and Warehousing / DGR cargo / Trading license.

We always endeavor to be the most versatile and professional forwarder in China. We are good with all the above service range. Specifically, we have more airfreight and rail freight volume in northern China, more sea freight volume in Shanghai and southern China. In addition, if you come with any radio-active or DGR cargo or some headache case, we can also be your right choice.

Tell us about projects that you have handled recently.

We just accomplished the Varian Guangzhou Cancer Hospital project (including delivery and lifting of cyclotron 92 ton each / several polecaps 65 tons each and gantries). We were also just awarded by CNOOC to move 2500CBM bulk cargo, including several oversize and overweight tanks ex China factory up to Iraq Missan Oilfield job site.

Which are the main industries served in China?

As for industries, we are mainly active with below industries in China: Oil & Gas / Mining / Medical / AOG / Power Plant / Nuclear / Transformer / Shipbuilding industries. We are now paying more attention to new projects along the silk-belt road development.

Which are the main ports used for serving breakbulk project cargo in China?

China has a long coastal line with lots of main ports and good harbor facilities. The main ports from north to south serving both containers and breakbulk can include Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Nansha and some Yangtze River  ports.

All these ports can accommodate big breakbulk vessels with good lifting capacity. However, due to carrier’s choice and project market reason, Dalian / Qingdao / Tianjin / Shanghai sum up to 70% breakbulk cargo.

Is special transport a competitive sector in China? How do you ensure that you
will stand out?

Special transport normally needs more experience, more special know-how, more resources and more efforts. This force us to combine our local experience with our global brains and experts such as THLG members to explore the best solutions. Think globally and serve locally. We invited Mr Bodo Walther from the very beginning as our long-term coach and consultant to optimize the training and culture fusion.

We definitely can manage better communication than most Chinese competitors. Furthermore, Hisiang already had a lot of quality clients who trusted us. A lot of on-going and planned projects will definitely help and build to surpass our competitors continuously.

What made you join the industry?

Hisiang was founded in 1993, when the Chinese economy had just started its engines. We followed the time pulse to run our own business immediately, when the government decided to open the logistics market. We were in one of the first batches of independent private forwarders in China. We keep growing for the last 27 years. Clients appreciate our service value. Now we are bigger and stronger. We are confident that we will be even more successful in the future.

What do you like the most about your business?

We are very clear of the difference between job and profession. Job gives you salary. Profession means evolving your thinking and action to optimize your work. Our business crosses countries and cultures. This demands using not only the things lying in the box but thinking out of the box. You need to think from different perspectives and cultures. We like the diversity of our business. We are also addicted to the challenge from clients to find the best solutions for difficult projects and never give up.

Are there any particularities in project cargo forwarding in China?

China has too many forwarders. More than 90% of companies can only handle general cargo and not the real project handling. So you have to open your eyes carefully to find Mr Right.

Most Chinese EPC companies normally have two different logistics teams in charge of origin and jobsite. So if you are interested in any Chinese-related job site clearance and delivery, please call a joint sales team that can penetrate the business easier.

Nowadays, more than 99% of Chinese clients require the bidding compliance instead of relationship priority. This is completely different from the past.

A lot of pending projects are on hold along the silk-belt road, due to the virus situation. Project cargo market will definitely warm up after the pandemic.

Who should be approached in Hisiang Logistics for inquiries?

You can learn more for us via http://www.hisiang.com and reach us via email at pricing@hisiang.com or david.yan@hisiang.com