The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing released my country’s cold chain logistics operation data for the third quarter on the 27th. Driven by policy guidance and market demand, my country's cold chain logistics operations increased steadily in the third quarter, and the market scale continued to expand.

Data from the Cold Chain Professional Committee of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing show that my country’s total demand for food cold chain logistics business in the third quarter was 117.3 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.72%, and the growth rate was 0.16 percentage points faster than the second quarter. In the first three quarters of this year, the total demand for food cold chain logistics business was 309.3 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.49%, and the growth rate accelerated by 0.14 percentage points compared with the first half of the year.

In the third quarter, fresh food e-commerce sales increased by about 15% year-on-year, maintaining double-digit growth, with fruit and vegetable products growing the fastest.

In terms of revenue, the total revenue of food cold chain logistics service companies in the third quarter was 144.97 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.92%, and the growth rate was 0.2 percentage points faster than the second quarter. The total revenue of food cold chain logistics service companies in the first three quarters was 424.91 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.85%, and the growth rate was basically the same as in the first half of the year.

Cold chain infrastructure construction is advancing steadily

In the third quarter of this year, cold chain infrastructure construction also maintained good growth, the scale of cold storage continued to expand, and the sales of refrigerated trucks increased steadily.

Under the dual role of planning guidance from governments at all levels and driven by market demand, the scale of cold storage in my country continues to expand. As of the third quarter of 2025, the total cold storage capacity was 263 million cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 7.35%, of which 2.5359 million cubic meters of new capacity was added in the third quarter. Experts said that under the background of quantitative destocking of cold storage, cold storage construction has gradually become more rational, and the growth rate of cold storage capacity has slowed down. At the same time, corporate research shows that cold storage rents are running at low levels, and corporate profit margins are being squeezed.

Enabled by policy subsidies and the opening of road rights in many places to new energy vehicles, coupled with strong demand for cold chain urban distribution, the sales of new energy refrigerated trucks continue to grow, driving the sales of refrigerated trucks to steadily increase. In the third quarter, the sales volume of refrigerated trucks was 23,251 units, a year-on-year increase of 41.40%, of which the sales volume of new energy refrigerated trucks was 10,024 units, a year-on-year increase of 125.05%. Experts said that driven by the continued subsidy support from local policies and the opening of road rights, the sales of new energy refrigerated trucks are expected to continue to grow in the fourth quarter, and the penetration rate of new energy refrigerated trucks is expected to increase to about 40%.

(CCTV reporter Wang Shantao)