Air cargo is an important strategic resource for the country. It has the characteristics of high added value, speed and efficiency in transporting cargo. It plays an important role in emergency response, rescue and disaster relief, and military support.As China's economy shifts from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, e-commerce and express logistics industry continue to grow rapidly, the proportion of air express consignments increases, the business model of enterprises extends from cargo transportation to the whole industrial chain, traditional air cargo enterprises gradually transform to provide whole-process service air logistics enterprises, and burgeoning air logistics enterprises continue to emerge and grow speedily.The development trend of air cargo specialization and logistics has put forward higher requirements for the layout, operating environment and efficiency of air cargo facilities.Promoting the development of air cargo facilities is of great significance to gathering and optimizing the allocation of aviation factor resources, enhancing the international competitiveness of air cargo enterprises, and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the civil aviation and logistics industries. It is an inevitable choice for deepening the supply-side structural reform of the aviation industry. The transformation and upgrading of the aviation industry is an important way to achieve high-quality development.

Judging from the ranking of domestic airport cargo and mail throughput in 2020: 
Pudong Airport has a cargo and mail throughput of 3.687 million tons, ranking in the first echelon; 
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing airports have a cargo and mail throughput of more than one million tons, ranking in the second echelon; 
Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport has 802,000 tons,Zhengzhou Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu Airport are 639,000 tons and 618,000 tons respectively, belonging to the third echelon.
Hangzhou/Xiaoshan Airport and Zhengzhou/Xinzheng Airport are closely matched in terms of passenger throughput, cargo and mail throughput.
Among them, Hangzhou/Xiaoshan Airport ranks fifth in cargo and mail throughput and 10th in passenger throughput; Zhengzhou/Xinzheng Airport follows closely in sixth place and ranks 11th in passenger throughput.
Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, and Chongqing, which are in the third echelon, will be the most direct competitors in terms of air cargo and mail throughput ranking in recent years.

Combined with the preliminary statistical data released by various places and the summary of the ""Way of Logistics"", the cargo throughput of domestic airports in 2021 remained unchanged as in 2020.

As the world's top three and the first international air cargo hub in China, in 2021, the annual cargo throughput of Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao airports reached 4.366 million tons (the entry-exit cargo volume of Pudong Airport accounted for 93.7% of the total), an increase of 8.47%, exceeding the historical high of 4.23 million tons in 2017, and setting a new record in the level of security of Shanghai air cargo hub .

In 2021, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport completed 914,000 tons of cargo and post throughput, exceeding the historical high of 802,000 tons in 2020, and the production volume reached 900,000 tons for the first time, setting a new record in the contrarian trend.Coupled with Hangzhou's location, transportation and industrial advantages, it is still difficult for Zhengzhou and Chengdu to catch up.
Therefore, the top chair in the third echelon of the medium term, still belongs to Hangzhou.Recently, the General Office of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government issued the ""Opinions on Accelerating the Development of International Air Cargo"" to build Hangzhou Airport into a national air logistics center and a global ""postal express"" distribution center.

In 2021, the cargo and mail throughput of Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport exceeded 700,000 tons, an increase of about 10%. This is the first time that the cargo and mail throughput of Zhengzhou Airport exceeded 600,000 tons in 2020, which could be said to be one step up after one year.The cargo scale ranked 6th in China for two consecutive years and ranked among the top 40 in the world.
International and regional cargo throughput exceeded 540,000 tons, an increase of 23%, ranking fifth in the country for five consecutive years;Inbound and outbound cargo flights exceeded 10,000 for the first time, hitting a record high.

In 2021, the cargo throughput of Chengdu Shuangliu Airport was 628,000 tons, only a slight increase over 2020, and there was a certain gap with Zhengzhou's 700,000 tons.
But Chengdu Shuangliu Airport passenger throughput ranks second in the country, which was difficult for Zhengzhou to match.
In addition, in June 2021, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport will be completed and put into operation, which will become an important support for building a world-class airport group in Chengdu and Chongqing, and Chengdu has the advantage of ""double international airport"".Tianfu International Airport and Shuangliu International Airport will achieve ""two integrated"" operation, and jointly build Chengdu international aviation hub.Tianfu International Airport focuses on building an international passenger and cargo aviation hub, while Shuangliu International Airport mainly operates domestic business and regional routes. The two airports can be alternate airports to each other, and gradually form a dual-hub airport system with dislocation development, complementary functions and synergistic linkage.Therefore, Chengdu airport air cargo throughput still has a certain growth potential.