CHINA's freight forwarders experienced strong growth in their operations in 2004, according to a report by Xinhua.

The newswire, quoting from International Business Weekly and China International Freight Forwarder Association figures, said the turnover of China's top 100 freight forwarder grew from CNY1.08 billion (US$130.49 million) in 2003 to CNY1.53 billion in 2004. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce, international freight forwarders have experienced the best growth among all international ventures in the mainland.

There are more than 5,000 approved freight forwarding companies in China, with more than 1,000 operating as joint ventures with foreign companies. China will open the door to exclusive foreign investment in freight forwarding enterprises from December under an earlier signed WTO agreement.