Empirical research on the development trend of regional logistics capacity based on the panel data during 2001–2011

Regional logistics development is not only one of the key factors which impact on the smooth circulation of regional goods, but also is the service element which supports the economic development. This paper defined the concept of regional logistics capacity, constructed descriptive index system from logistics scale, economic basis and infrastructure. Collected statistics data from “China Statistical Yearbook” and “China City Statistical Yearbook”. Obtained values of regional logistics capacity for 31 provincial regions in China with Factor Analysis method and abstracted three principal components based on the eigenvalues and the cumulative percentages of variance etc., respectively represented economic basis for logistics development, logistics service demand caused by per consumption and logistics human resource; clustered the factor scores of 31 regions based on the Euclidean distance and classified into six types regions, provided evidences for promoting regional logistics development.