During the three years of the pandemic, ordinary logistics was impacted, but cold chain logistics surged against the trend — vaccine transport, nucleic acid reagent distribution, and the rise of fresh e-commerce elevated cold chain logistics from a "niche track" to the focus of capital and market attention. By 2026, the global cold chain logistics market exceeded $350 billion, with an average annual growth rate maintained above 12%, twice the growth rate of ordinary logistics.
As the world's largest producer and consumer of agricultural products, China's cold chain export business is growing rapidly. Import cold chain (Chilean cherries, Ecuadorian white shrimp, Thai durian) has already formed a mature market; but export cold chain (Chinese frozen products and fresh agricultural products exported to Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea) is the new blue ocean that Chinese cold chain logistics companies should truly focus on.
### 2.1 Southeast Asia: The Largest Incremental Market
Southeast Asia has a population of over 600 million, with a high proportion of Chinese diaspora, giving it a natural affinity for Chinese food — Guangxi's oranges, Fujian's pomelos, Guangdong's lychees, and Shandong's vegetables are all popular in Southeast Asian markets. However, Southeast Asia's hot climate and incomplete cold chain system result in extremely high fresh produce loss rates. Building a complete cold chain from origin to Southeast Asian consumers represents a huge opportunity for Chinese cold chain exports.
Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia — the urban middle classes in these countries are growing rapidly, and demand for high-quality fresh agricultural products is exploding. If Chinese cold chain logistics companies can build capabilities across the entire chain — origin pre-cooling, cross-border refrigerated transport, destination port customs clearance, and last-mile refrigerated delivery — they will seize the first-mover advantage in this market.
### 2.2 Japan and South Korea: Quality Premium in the High-End Market
Japan and South Korea are the world's most demanding markets for food quality and are willing to pay for premium cold chain services. China's exported quick-frozen foods, aquatic products, and prepared foods to Japan and South Korea already have mature channels, but competition is fierce. The key is building a cold chain system that meets Japanese and Korean standards — traceable temperature records, packaging compliant with destination country regulations, and smooth customs clearance processes.
### 2.3 RCEP Tariff Benefits
The implementation of RCEP has brought tangible tariff reductions for Chinese cold chain exports. Taking frozen aquatic products as an example, export tariff rates to Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia have decreased by 3–8 percentage points — for thin-margin agricultural trade, this is a non-negligible cost advantage. If cold chain logistics companies can deeply bind with origin-area traders and leverage RCEP benefits, they can build a price competitive advantage in the Southeast Asian market.
### 3.1 unbroken Temperature Control Throughout
The core of cold chain logistics is the integrity of the "temperature chain" — from origin pre-cooling warehouses, cross-border refrigerated trucks, destination port cold storage, to last-mile refrigerated delivery, every link must remain unbroken. The most common failure case: origin pre-cooling is done well, but temperature management during cross-border transport is lost, causing quality degradation or spoilage upon arrival. The application of temperature-controlled IoT devices has made full-process temperature visibility possible — real-time temperature anomaly alerts are the standard for cold chain operations.
### 3.2 Destination Port Customs Clearance Capability
Import cold chain customs clearance rules vary greatly across Southeast Asian countries: Thailand has strict health certificate requirements for imported frozen aquatic products; Malaysia requires destination port cold chain companies to hold MESTI certification; Indonesia's import license (NIEU) system is complex and requires cooperation with locally licensed customs brokers. Cold chain logistics companies must thoroughly understand destination market customs rules and establish local cooperation networks.
### 3.3 Cross-Border Refrigerated Transport Resources
The biggest bottleneck for cross-border cold chain is capacity. Refrigerated containers (RF containers) are the mainstream, but tight slot availability and slow container turnaround are the norm. Many "secondary cold chain" options exist on Southeast Asia routes — that is, regular dry containers with refrigerated units, suitable for short-haul transport. Cross-border refrigerated truck transport (exporting to Vietnam from Guangxi's Pingxiang Port) is also a flexible supplementary solution, suitable for LCL cargo.
### 4.1 Insufficient Origin Cold Storage Infrastructure
Insufficient construction of origin cold storage in China is the biggest pain point of cold chain logistics. From field harvest to entering cold storage, there are often several hours of "cold chain interruption," which is a major cause of high agricultural product loss rates. Leading cold chain companies are extending into origin areas, building pre-cooling centers and origin warehouses in major agricultural production regions to shorten "cold interruption" time.
### 4.2 Scarcity of Cold Chain Talent
Cold chain logistics requires not only engineers who understand refrigeration technology, but also logistics professionals who understand international trade, as well as agricultural experts familiar with fresh produce characteristics. The scarcity of composite talent is the main bottleneck for cold chain logistics companies' expansion.
### 4.3 Complexity of Temperature Control Compliance
Different countries have different temperature control standards for cold chain goods — EU's HACCP certification, U.S. FDA registration, cold chain food regulations in Southeast Asian countries — compliance requirements vary widely. Building a globally unified but locally compliant cold chain operations system is a necessary capability for cold chain logistics companies going overseas.
First, choose a niche track and go deep. Cold chain logistics covers an extremely wide range of categories — aquatic products, dairy, fruits and vegetables, frozen foods, and meat — each with different temperature control requirements and operational standards. Choose one category and go deep, building full-chain service capabilities from origin to dining table; this provides more barriers than generalized cold chain logistics.
Second, prioritize digital temperature control capabilities. Temperature records are not only compliance requirements but also a reflection of service value. Providing customers with real-time temperature tracking, anomaly alerts, and compliance reports is the core competitive advantage of cold chain logistics companies.
Third, strategically place origin warehouses. Early布局of origin pre-cooling warehouses in major agricultural production regions is a key step in entering origin cold chain. Rather than competing in the downstream market, establish barriers upstream to build negotiating power over downstream players.
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