Supply Chain Research

China may launch seven new free trade zones in February, including a focus on improving internal logistics as well as international operations. This comes as China’s exports have contracted, with a 6% drop in the 12 months to January 31 on a year earlier. The targeted regions have all grown more quickly than the national average, except Sichuan, over the past five years. However, five of them saw a drop in exports in 2016 vs. 2015. The fastest growing of the top 20, Shaanxi, is focussed on electronic components including storage, and may have been included to preempt competition from eme...