中国电商发展的关键：快递员

1、中国电商发展的关键：快递员李先生(David Li)有吃苦耐劳的精神，愿意在北京如此折磨人的交通状况下骑着电动车穿梭在大街小巷。对于中国这个价值数十亿美元、苦于如何将商品交到挑剔客户手里的电子商务产业来说，李先生这样的人实在是难能可贵。2011年，李先生离开了老家邯郸市，离开了妻子和还在襁褓中的儿子，也离开了中学数学教师这一工作，到北京京东世纪贸易有限公司(Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co.)做了一名快递员。该公司是购物网站京东商城(360)的运营商。快递公司说，大城市里那些专门跑高档写字楼的快递员每月收入能超过950美元，比工厂工人200美元至650美元

2、的收入高多了。那些写字楼的订单流量很大，货物递送也方便快捷。谈到和家人的分离，李先生说，挺难的，但我是有抱负的。在工作了仅五个月后，去年初他被提升为一个配送中心的主管，手下有20个快递员。随着越来越富裕的中国消费者开始热衷网购，电子商务近年来在中国内地呈爆炸性增长之势。据弗雷斯特研究公司(Forrester Research)统计，预计未来几年中国网上销售总额将超过美国，有望从去年的1,694亿美元增至2016年的3,561亿美元。同期，预计美国网上零售额将从2,260亿美元增至3,270亿美元。有鉴于此，互联网零售商和物流公司都在努力以白手起家的姿态在中国内地建立复杂的配送系统，将偏远地区的

3、消费者在网上购买的东西送到他们手里。电子商务公司阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)创始人马云说，糟糕的物流正在减缓中国互联网零售增速。知情人士说，运营着淘宝网(Taobao)和天猫商城(Tmall)的阿里巴巴集团打算加入银行、快递公司和相关行业实体的行列，欲投资人民币1,000亿元（约合150亿美元），用于在未来10年加强中国的物流业。近来发生的一些事凸显出该行业面临的挑战。去年，在接到客户投诉后，中国邮政部门以邮件丢失、“野蛮分拣”等违规操作为由，注销了116家快递公司的经营许可证。去年10月，中国南方航空公司(China Southern Airlines

4、 Co.)一架航班落地后，一个装有防风火柴的包裹突然起火。中国国家媒体报道，在那架飞机上还发现了两个快递公司托运的另外两件违禁物品。合肥机场警方和官方媒体表示，有关部门去年11月查获了若干枚炮弹壳，一家快递公司当时试图将这些炮弹壳通过民航托运。在世界银行(World Bank)去年发布的物流基础设施排名中，中国排名第26位，比韩国落后五个位次，刚好排在土耳其前面。排名第一的是新加坡，美国排名第九。物流专家说，中国缺乏大量货物流动所需的复杂仓库。他们说，中国许多城市不愿向物流公司或电子商务公司出售土地用于建设仓库，因为这类经营活动产生的税收不如购物中心或写字楼。在物流公司中通速递(Zhongto

5、ng Express)位于北京东部郊区的一个仓库里，工人们最近徒手处理包裹，有时他们把包裹堆成堆。寒风从露天的装卸码头和仓库门吹进来，为了抵御寒冷，工人们穿得有些臃肿。经理于美娜（音）说，业务的迅速增长超出了仓库的处理能力。她说，公司计划不久后搬到更大的地方去。如何留住员工是一个挑战。于美娜说，这里没有足够的毕业生，很难吸引到他们。许多工作很复杂，比如协调进入华北地区的包裹的增减。但她说，受过良好教育的人多数不愿意做这种工作。企业正在增加支出以弥补人才的不足。北京京东世纪贸易公司自从2009年以来一直在扩大物流体系。最近刚刚从快递员的职位获得晋升的李先生就在京东工作。该公司雇佣了大约1万名快递

6、员和5,000名仓库管理员，但是没有披露其支出。京东的首席执行长刘强东曾经抱怨中国的物流管理十分糟糕。产业的扩张大部分体现在一线员工的增加上。在中国的主要城市，每天都有大量电动车、摩托车和电动推车出现在街道上。2009年，30岁的徐容亮（音）从中国沿海的杭州市来到北京，骑着电动车送快递，每月的工资仅略高于160美元。此后，他换了四家公司，最终成为北京之外一个分销中心的客服代表，收入也大幅增长。他说：我投入了精力和时间，获得了回报。这挺让人高兴的。徐容亮有超过100个来自浙江的朋友现在在北京当快递员。为了利用临近阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的优势，这个中国东部省份出现了许多中国最大的物流公司。尽管

7、许多人升了职，一些人仍然冒着雨雪穿梭在中国的街道上。他说：许多人觉得这个工作很辛苦。真的，确实也是这样。Scooters Rule as E-Commerce Grows in ChinaDavid Li possesses a can-do work ethic and a willingness to zip around Beijings harrowing traffic on an electric scooter. That makes him highly valuable to a multibillion-dollar Chinese electronic-commerce

8、industry struggling with how to deliver goods to demanding customers.In 2011 Mr. Li left behind a wife, infant son and a job teaching middle-school math in the eastern city of Handan to became a courier for Chinese Internet retailer Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co., which runs the 360 shopping s

9、ite.Delivery companies say couriers who work the most profitable office buildings in large citieswhere order flow is high and delivery is quick and easycan earn more than $950 a month, well above the $200 to $650 brought in by factory workers.Its hard, but Im ambitious, Mr. Li says of the separation

10、 from his family. Early last year, after only five months on the job, he was promoted to manager of a distribution center that has 20 deliverymen.E-commerce has exploded here in recent years as increasingly affluent consumers have learned to love online deals. Chinas total online sales are expected

11、to eclipse those of the U.S. in coming years, rising to $356.1 billion in 2016 from $169.4 billion last year, according to Forrester Research. U.S. online retail sales are forecast to reach $327 billion from $226 billion over the same period.That leaves Internet retailers and logistics companies att

12、empting to build from scratch a complex distribution system to send goods purchased online to the distant corners of China.Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., has said terrible logistics are slowing the growth of Internet retailing in China. Alibaba, which runs the

13、 Taobao and Tmall shopping sites, plans to join with banks, delivery companies and industry players to invest 100 billion yuan, or roughly $15 billion, to strengthen Chinas logistics industry over the next decade, a person familiar with the matter said.Recent incidents underscore the challenge the i

14、ndustry faces.China last year stripped 116 delivery companies of their permits following customer complaints, with postal authorities citing lost mail, barbaric sorting and other offenses. A parcel containing wind-resistant matches started a fire in October on a China Southern Airlines Co. 600029.SH

15、 -3.18% plane after it landed. State media reported that two other forbidden goods shipped by separate delivery companies also were found on the airliner. And in November, authorities seized empty artillery shells that a delivery company was attempting to ship on a civil aircraft, according to the H

16、efei Airport police and official media.China ranked 26th in the World Bank ranking of logistics infrastructure last year, five notches below South Korea and just above Turkey. Singapore led the list, and the U.S. was No. 9.Logistics experts say China lacks warehouses with the sophistication to servi

17、ce its large flow of goods and say many Chinese cities are loath to sell land to delivery or e-commerce companies for warehouses since such operations dont generate as much tax revenue as, say, shopping malls or office buildings.At a warehouse run by delivery firm Zhongtong Express on the eastern ou

18、tskirts of Beijing, workers recently handled packages by handsometimes tossing them in piles. Employees were bundled against the cold as freezing gusts blew through open loading docks and doors. Manager Yu Meina says fast growth has outstripped the capacity of the facility. The company plans to move

19、 to a bigger location soon, she says.Retaining workers is a challenge. Theres not enough graduates here, and theyre hard to attract, Ms. Yu says. Many of the jobs are complicated, involving coordination of the ebb and flow of packages into northern China, she says, but not many educated people want

20、to do this sort of work.Companies are ramping up spending to compensate. Jingdong Century, where Mr. Li was promoted recently from courier, has been expanding its delivery system since 2009. It employs about 10,000 couriers and 5,000 warehouse employees but doesnt disclose its spending. Chief Execut

21、ive Liu Qiangdong has complained of Chinas terrible logistics management.Much of the industry expansion comes at the end of the line, with the scooters, motorcycles and motorized carts that clog the roads of major Chinese cities daily.Xu Rongliang, a 30-year-old from the costal city of Hangzhou, made a little more than $160 a month when he came to Beijing in 2009 to ride an electric scooter as a courier.He since has switched companies four times, eventually becoming a customer-service representative for a distribution center outside of Beijing and substantially increasing his pay. Ive investe