On the evening of 29 March 2024, the "2024 Global Top 50 Logistics Companies" ranking project held the first expert meeting, 17 industry experts from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore, Turkey and other countries and regions participated in the online meeting to study and consider the evaluation standard system. The success of this meeting marks the first landmark point in the evaluation of "2024 Global Top 50 Logistics Companies" by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).

The "Global Top 50 Logistics Companies" ranking project is a global evaluation activity  proposed by the Hebei Provincial People's Government and sponsored by CILT. which is organized by CILT China in cooperation with relevant organizations in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries and regions as well as domestic high-end think tanks. The aim is to establish a fair, accurate and authoritative evaluation system to evaluate and rank the global listed logistics enterprises in multiple dimensions, and provide a powerful reference and guidance for the development of the international logistics industry. The results of the ranking will be jointly released by China Communications and Transportation Association (CCTA) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Investment and Technology Promotion Office  (China-Beijing) at the CILT International Convention 2024 to be held in June.

Mr. Wang Ensen, President of Transportation and Logistics Branch of China Communications and Transportation Association and President of CILT China, emphasized at the expert meeting that "Global Top 50 Logistics Companies" is not only an important indicator to assess the strength and competitiveness of enterprises, but also a barometer reflecting the development trend of the industry. It is hoped that through the joint efforts of the expert team, a global logistics enterprise ranking list with global credibility and influence will be created, which will make positive contributions to the development of the global logistics industry.

The expert meeting was chaired by Li Qiaozhi, Secretary General of CILT China and Vivien Yang, Chief Representative of Union Pacific Railroad in China. Hu Yudong, head of the quantitative analysis team, and Kenneth Law, head of the qualitative analysis team, introduced the data sources, evaluation dimensions, index design and schedule arrangement. The "Global Top 50 Logistics Companies" project will focus on global listed logistics-based enterprises, excluding non-listed and passenger-oriented logistics enterprises, and conduct a comprehensive evaluation based on the ratio of 80% quantitative evaluation and 20% qualitative evaluation.

The quantitative evaluation stage will be based on data such as business revenue, market capitalization and net assets, as well as evaluation indicators such as net profit margin, return on assets and return on shareholders' equity. In the qualitative evaluation stage, representatives of more than 170 member states of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Fellows of CILT (FCILT) and shareholders will also be invited to score the enterprise's development indicators, including safety, green energy-saving, science and technology, environmental protection, social responsibility, etc., in conjunction with the SDG and ESG.

Most of the members of the project expert team are from the Fellows of CILT (FCILT), including Dr. Dorothy Chan, Executive Vice-President of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies of the University of Hong Kong and former Commissioner of Hong Kong Transport Department; Huang Youfang, President of the China Institute of FTZ Supply Chain and former President of the Shanghai Maritime University, Wang Xin, Regional Synergist of UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office (China-Beijing); Vicky Koo, Advisor of Trustee of CILT International; Kamjit Singh, President of CILT Singapore; Berna Akyildiz, President of CILT Turkey;Finbar Cleary, Vice President of Ireland-China Science and Technology Association; Dr. Michael Lam, Professor for Supply Chain in Macau University of Science and Technology,and other industry leaders, as well as industry experts from Guohong Think Tank. The experts had an in-depth discussion and deliberation on the project program and evaluation system from a global perspective, which provided new ideas for the improvement of the project evaluation system.

International experts agreed that the evaluation system should fully draw on internationally recognized evaluation standards and indicators to ensure the scientific and rational evaluation. With the advancement of the "Global Top 50 Logistics Companies" ranking program, we expect to see the establishment of a comprehensive and fair evaluation system for logistics enterprises. This will not only promote the healthy development of the global logistics industry, but also provide a stage for global logistics enterprises to demonstrate their strength and competitiveness.