One Belt One Road: The possibility of developing fourth-party logistics driven by Sino-Russian e-commerce
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Аннотация
Introduction 6
1. BRI and modern logistics industry 8
1.1 The Belt and Road initiative 8
1.2 Status Quo of Sino-Russian Logistics Industry 9
1.2.1 Current Situation and Development of China's Logistics Industry Related Policies 9
1.2.2 Current Situation and Development of Russia's Logistics Industry Related Policies 11
1.2.3 International docking of Sino-Russian logistics policies 13
1.3 The logistics industry under BRI. 14
2. Theoretical background. 18
2.1 The fourth-party logistics (4PL) 18
2.2 Dynamic Capabilities 24
2.2.1 Concept of dynamic capabilities 24
2.2.2 The composition of DC 25
2.3 Research gaps 26
3. Methodology 30
3.1 Data and respondents 30
3.2 Method and measures 31
3.3 Empirical study 33
3.4 Findings and discussion 33
3.4.1 Sample characteristics 33
3.4.2 Linear analysis 36
3.4.3 Result and discussion 39
Conclusion 44
References 48
Appendix. 55
Appendix 1 55
Appendix 2 61
Introduction 6
1. BRI and modern logistics industry 8
1.1 The Belt and Road initiative 8
1.2 Status Quo of Sino-Russian Logistics Industry 9
1.2.1 Current Situation and Development of China's Logistics Industry Related Policies 9
1.2.2 Current Situation and Development of Russia's Logistics Industry Related Policies 11
1.2.3 International docking of Sino-Russian logistics policies 13
1.3 The logistics industry under BRI. 14
2. Theoretical background. 18
2.1 The fourth-party logistics (4PL) 18
2.2 Dynamic Capabilities 24
2.2.1 Concept of dynamic capabilities 24
2.2.2 The composition of DC 25
2.3 Research gaps 26
3. Methodology 30
3.1 Data and respondents 30
3.2 Method and measures 31
3.3 Empirical study 33
3.4 Findings and discussion 33
3.4.1 Sample characteristics 33
3.4.2 Linear analysis 36
3.4.3 Result and discussion 39
Conclusion 44
References 48
Appendix. 55
Appendix 1 55
Appendix 2 61
The implementation of the "One Belt, One Road" strategy has expanded and realized the interconnection between Asia, Europe and Africa, and also provided market opportunities for the construction of "One Belt One Road" cross-border e-commerce logistics infrastructure. In 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19, the global industrial chain and supply chain faced the risk of rupture, and sea and air transportation are seriously hindered.
Under this circumstance, the China-Europe Railway Express has exceeded 10,000 trains for the second consecutive year, reaching 15,183, a year-on-year increase of 22% (Xinhuanet, 2022). The data shows that in the first quarter of 2022, the China Railway Group will strengthen the organization of international intermodal transportation, and cooperate closely with domestic customs departments, foreign trade and logistics enterprises (Xinhuanet, 2022). At the same time, in order to increase the speed of cross-border e-commerce logistics transportation between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, China has been building logistics bases, overseas warehouses and cross-border e-commerce logistics industrial parks. For example, the Lianyungang logistics base jointly invested and constructed by China and Kazakhstan has been identified as the China-Kazakhstan logistics transit center (People's Daily, 2022).
In terms of Sino-Russian trade, in 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia will exceed 140 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 35%, and a new record high (Xinhuanet, 2022). According to the "2018 China Cross-border E-commerce Market Data Testing Report" released by the E-commerce Research Center, the scale of China's export cross-border e-commerce transactions in 2018 was 7.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%. Among the business countries and regions, Russia accounts for 11.3% (E-commerce Research Center, 2019).
As China's largest neighbor by area, Russia has a vast territory and frequent economic and trade cooperation. In 2020, China's online retail sales reached 11.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%. In the same year, the number of people who used online shopping in Russia exceeded 80 million yuan, accounting for about 70% of the total population (gov.cn. 2021). On the whole, the online shopping demand of Chinese and Russian people is constantly increasing. For a long time to come, Russia will be a potential market for China's rapid growth of online sales (Tan Litao, 2020).
While BRI brings opportunities to e-commerce logistics, it also brings challenges. With the continuous expansion of the international logistics market, the development of third-party logistics (3PL) has been limited, which is embodied in the following three aspects: 1) Single service item, limited service scope; 2) The level of information technology is backward and the degree of informatization is not high; 3) lack of professional logistics talents and low management level (Wei Yao, 2016). The emergence of 4PL logistics services can help enterprises to effectively solve these problems. Compared with 3PL, 4PL has the following four advantages: 1) Provide customers with the best logistics service solutions by optimizing the combination of suppliers; 2) Comprehensive supply chain solutions to expand the scope of logistics services; 3) Integration An information application platform for different logistics enterprise resources; 4) to meet the growing informatization needs of customers (Wei Yao, 2016).
Under the background that China and Russia are actively promoting BRI, the development of China-Russia 4PL has a good prospect. Therefore, it is necessary to make a reasonable assessment of the possibility of the development of the 4PL in China and Russia, deepen the related academic research, and provide a certain reference for the future development of the 4PL in the two countries. Finally, through the analysis of 4PL development factors, we use the theory of Dynamic capabilities to discuss how Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL companies can form their own competitive advantages.
The aim of the given study is to study how BRI provides new impetus for the development of Sino-Russian 4PL, and to reveal the important factors affecting the development of Sino-Russian 4PL under the DC framework.
Subject: the development of Sino-Russian forth party logistics
Object: effect of Belt and Road initiative and other factors
Under this circumstance, the China-Europe Railway Express has exceeded 10,000 trains for the second consecutive year, reaching 15,183, a year-on-year increase of 22% (Xinhuanet, 2022). The data shows that in the first quarter of 2022, the China Railway Group will strengthen the organization of international intermodal transportation, and cooperate closely with domestic customs departments, foreign trade and logistics enterprises (Xinhuanet, 2022). At the same time, in order to increase the speed of cross-border e-commerce logistics transportation between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, China has been building logistics bases, overseas warehouses and cross-border e-commerce logistics industrial parks. For example, the Lianyungang logistics base jointly invested and constructed by China and Kazakhstan has been identified as the China-Kazakhstan logistics transit center (People's Daily, 2022).
In terms of Sino-Russian trade, in 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia will exceed 140 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 35%, and a new record high (Xinhuanet, 2022). According to the "2018 China Cross-border E-commerce Market Data Testing Report" released by the E-commerce Research Center, the scale of China's export cross-border e-commerce transactions in 2018 was 7.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%. Among the business countries and regions, Russia accounts for 11.3% (E-commerce Research Center, 2019).
As China's largest neighbor by area, Russia has a vast territory and frequent economic and trade cooperation. In 2020, China's online retail sales reached 11.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%. In the same year, the number of people who used online shopping in Russia exceeded 80 million yuan, accounting for about 70% of the total population (gov.cn. 2021). On the whole, the online shopping demand of Chinese and Russian people is constantly increasing. For a long time to come, Russia will be a potential market for China's rapid growth of online sales (Tan Litao, 2020).
While BRI brings opportunities to e-commerce logistics, it also brings challenges. With the continuous expansion of the international logistics market, the development of third-party logistics (3PL) has been limited, which is embodied in the following three aspects: 1) Single service item, limited service scope; 2) The level of information technology is backward and the degree of informatization is not high; 3) lack of professional logistics talents and low management level (Wei Yao, 2016). The emergence of 4PL logistics services can help enterprises to effectively solve these problems. Compared with 3PL, 4PL has the following four advantages: 1) Provide customers with the best logistics service solutions by optimizing the combination of suppliers; 2) Comprehensive supply chain solutions to expand the scope of logistics services; 3) Integration An information application platform for different logistics enterprise resources; 4) to meet the growing informatization needs of customers (Wei Yao, 2016).
Under the background that China and Russia are actively promoting BRI, the development of China-Russia 4PL has a good prospect. Therefore, it is necessary to make a reasonable assessment of the possibility of the development of the 4PL in China and Russia, deepen the related academic research, and provide a certain reference for the future development of the 4PL in the two countries. Finally, through the analysis of 4PL development factors, we use the theory of Dynamic capabilities to discuss how Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL companies can form their own competitive advantages.
The aim of the given study is to study how BRI provides new impetus for the development of Sino-Russian 4PL, and to reveal the important factors affecting the development of Sino-Russian 4PL under the DC framework.
Subject: the development of Sino-Russian forth party logistics
Object: effect of Belt and Road initiative and other factors
This research focuses on the possibility of the development of 4PL in Sino-Russian e-commerce under the influence of BRI. By combining the DC theory, the factors that affect the development of Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL are analyzed, and how these factors help 4PL companies to form their competitive advantages .
This master theses has three parts to answer the proposed research questions and finally achieve the research goal. The first chapter is literature review of Belt and Road initiative and the development of modern logistics industry under BRI. The purpose of this chapter is to explain the concepts of BRI and to understand the cooperation and future development prospects of China and Russia in various fields under the background of BRI, especially in infrastructure and logistics.
Through the analysis of the current situation of Sino-Russian logistics industry in the first chapter, we believe that the current situation of China and Russia has the conditions which are suitable for the development of 4PL. The second chapter introduces the concepts of 4PL and DC on the basis of Sino-Russian logistics industry. We believe that the use of DC theory to build a framework of 4PL between the two countries can help analyze the possibility of developing 4PL between the two countries. At the end of this chapter, 4 research gaps and 3 research questions are presented. By using appropriate methodology in subsequent chapters, we attempt to fill the research gaps to some extent, while 3 research questions are answered and ultimately the research purpose of this study is accomplished.
The third chapter is the methodology. The research method which is used for collecting the needed data for empirical study and the measures used during the study will be presented in this chapter. At the end of this chapter, the results of the empirical research are comprehensively presented, and relevant conclusions are drawn after discussing the results. Moreover, by using the DC theory to build a framework, we can intuitively see the capabilities and the missing capabilities of the current Sino-Russian 4PL companies.
In general, the policies of the two countries and the diplomatic, political, and economic actions in recent years show that the BRI provides a good development space for the logistics industry of China and Russia. The vast territory of China and Russia, especially in Northwest China, and the uneven economic development of Russia's Asian sectors, to a certain extent have brought difficulties and opportunities to the development of the logistics industry. The use of 4PL on the basis of 3PL can help companies maximize efficiency. Despite the great difficulties 44
of COVID-19 and the current international situation, the development of Sino-Russian 4PL has great potential.
• Limitation
It is necessary to recognize some of limitations of the study. One limitation concerns limited sample size (152 questionnaires). Although Sino-Russian e-commerce logistics is a relatively small industry, especially under the influence of COVID-19 and the international situation in recent years, our research still needs more data to support our findings. For practical analytical reasons, we think a slightly flawed operation is desirable because the shortcomings of the questionnaire survey method itself include that the survey results may be broad but not deep, and the quality of the questionnaire objects may not be guaranteed.
Another limitation is that due to some force majeure factors, the survey company cannot guarantee that the 152 questionnaire respondents are from different companies as much as possible, which may also cause the final questionnaire results to be unable to represent the industry situation of China and Russia 4PL to the greatest extent
The last limitation concerns the applicability of DC to different types of companies. Although the data distribution meets our expectations from the perspective of sample characteristics, micro, small, medium and large enterprises are covered, and the data can explain the situation of the entire industry, the actual situation of each company could be different. Therefore, the general situation under the DC theory we summarized may not apply to every 4PL company.
• Theoretical contribution
This research has made the following theoretical contributions to the development of Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL under the BRI framework.
The BRI framework has been reasonably applied in the Sino-Russian 4PL research. Our study attempts to cover the research gaps identified during the literature review. As we stated earlier, few studies have put the “Belt and Road” initiative and the competitiveness of the logistics industry in the same framework system. In this study, by fixing the research gap between China and Russia, we put the development of 4PLs in the two countries under the same framework as the BRI. The research results fill the gap of related theoretical research to a certain extent.
Most of the influencing factors summarized in this study are applicable to Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL, which proves that the theory and model of previous analysis of influencing factors have general applicability. On the basis of literature review, by analyzing and summarizing the factors that affect 4PL in different countries, regions and specific situations, the influencing factors applicable to the development of 4PL in China and Russia are summarized and verified.....
This master theses has three parts to answer the proposed research questions and finally achieve the research goal. The first chapter is literature review of Belt and Road initiative and the development of modern logistics industry under BRI. The purpose of this chapter is to explain the concepts of BRI and to understand the cooperation and future development prospects of China and Russia in various fields under the background of BRI, especially in infrastructure and logistics.
Through the analysis of the current situation of Sino-Russian logistics industry in the first chapter, we believe that the current situation of China and Russia has the conditions which are suitable for the development of 4PL. The second chapter introduces the concepts of 4PL and DC on the basis of Sino-Russian logistics industry. We believe that the use of DC theory to build a framework of 4PL between the two countries can help analyze the possibility of developing 4PL between the two countries. At the end of this chapter, 4 research gaps and 3 research questions are presented. By using appropriate methodology in subsequent chapters, we attempt to fill the research gaps to some extent, while 3 research questions are answered and ultimately the research purpose of this study is accomplished.
The third chapter is the methodology. The research method which is used for collecting the needed data for empirical study and the measures used during the study will be presented in this chapter. At the end of this chapter, the results of the empirical research are comprehensively presented, and relevant conclusions are drawn after discussing the results. Moreover, by using the DC theory to build a framework, we can intuitively see the capabilities and the missing capabilities of the current Sino-Russian 4PL companies.
In general, the policies of the two countries and the diplomatic, political, and economic actions in recent years show that the BRI provides a good development space for the logistics industry of China and Russia. The vast territory of China and Russia, especially in Northwest China, and the uneven economic development of Russia's Asian sectors, to a certain extent have brought difficulties and opportunities to the development of the logistics industry. The use of 4PL on the basis of 3PL can help companies maximize efficiency. Despite the great difficulties 44
of COVID-19 and the current international situation, the development of Sino-Russian 4PL has great potential.
• Limitation
It is necessary to recognize some of limitations of the study. One limitation concerns limited sample size (152 questionnaires). Although Sino-Russian e-commerce logistics is a relatively small industry, especially under the influence of COVID-19 and the international situation in recent years, our research still needs more data to support our findings. For practical analytical reasons, we think a slightly flawed operation is desirable because the shortcomings of the questionnaire survey method itself include that the survey results may be broad but not deep, and the quality of the questionnaire objects may not be guaranteed.
Another limitation is that due to some force majeure factors, the survey company cannot guarantee that the 152 questionnaire respondents are from different companies as much as possible, which may also cause the final questionnaire results to be unable to represent the industry situation of China and Russia 4PL to the greatest extent
The last limitation concerns the applicability of DC to different types of companies. Although the data distribution meets our expectations from the perspective of sample characteristics, micro, small, medium and large enterprises are covered, and the data can explain the situation of the entire industry, the actual situation of each company could be different. Therefore, the general situation under the DC theory we summarized may not apply to every 4PL company.
• Theoretical contribution
This research has made the following theoretical contributions to the development of Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL under the BRI framework.
The BRI framework has been reasonably applied in the Sino-Russian 4PL research. Our study attempts to cover the research gaps identified during the literature review. As we stated earlier, few studies have put the “Belt and Road” initiative and the competitiveness of the logistics industry in the same framework system. In this study, by fixing the research gap between China and Russia, we put the development of 4PLs in the two countries under the same framework as the BRI. The research results fill the gap of related theoretical research to a certain extent.
Most of the influencing factors summarized in this study are applicable to Sino-Russian e-commerce 4PL, which proves that the theory and model of previous analysis of influencing factors have general applicability. On the basis of literature review, by analyzing and summarizing the factors that affect 4PL in different countries, regions and specific situations, the influencing factors applicable to the development of 4PL in China and Russia are summarized and verified.....
