After years of delivering parcels, business documents and university applications between China and the rest of world, major international carriers have changed their tactics to offer more upgraded services such as the conveying of healthcare products, precise parts for aircraft manufacturers and high-end foods in China’s fast-growing express delivery market. Many of these opportunities come from China’s soaring economy and application of information technology. Frederick Smith, Chairman and CEO of FedEx Corp, said FedEx has found new market growth points in China’s high-end manufacturing industry, such as providing timely delivery of airplane parts and industrial equipment from developed markets to China, as well as expanding its facilities for health-related products at its Shanghai international hub. As the operator of the world’s largest cargo airline, FedEx has continued to work with Shanghai Airport (Group) Co to establish an upgraded international express and cargo hub in Shanghai. After its completion in 2015, the new hub is expected to more than triple the capacity of the current FedEx facility in Shanghai, allowing it to process up to 36,000 documents and parcels per hour. With an investment of more than USD100 million, the new hub in Shanghai is a major step to expand the FedEx network and service offerings throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In China, FedEx has more than 9,000 employees and operates more than 110 service stations. Rival United Parcel Service (UPS) is also looking to maintain the upper hand in China’s rising delivery market for healthcare products and is planning to add another 14 inner-city express services in the country this year. UPS is expanding in the healthcare logistics field, the China Daily reports. UPS has expanded urban express services to 19 first- and second-tier cities in 2013 and expects to reach 33 cities by the end of this year. The company operates 208 weekly flights connecting China to the U.S., Europe and destinations across Asia.

Domestic express delivery services are getting a business boost from the explosive growth of e-commerce and using that revenue stream to expand their cargo fleets, but they are also watching out for international logistics firms moving further into the Chinese market. Shenzhen-based SF Express (Group) Co, Shanghai-based YTO Express Co and state-owned China Postal Airlines are buying and leasing more aircraft, renting warehouse space at airports and expanding their delivery options to meet growing competition from global delivery services. Li Sheng, President of SF Airlines, the air service branch of leading package service SF Express, said the company is buying and chartering more cargo freighters to offer better services to its clients. It acquired four cargo aircraft from Boeing last year, taking its fleet to 33 planes – 14 owned and 19 chartered. It plans to buy another 11 aircraft by the end of 2015. It already has 240,000 employees, more than 11,000 delivery vehicles and 7,600 service points around the world. Hou Hanping, Professor of Logistics Management at Beijing Jiaotong University, noted that many factors are affecting the industry: an expanding economy, the use of information technology and the rising urbanization rate in China. Those factors mean more segmented and sophisticated markets for delivery services. Rising e-commerce lifted China’s express shipping market by 37% to CNY144 billion last year, according to the China e-Business Research Center based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, the China Daily reports.

Domestic courier company STO Express plans to establish its first overseas logistics hub in Japan as it expands around the globe. The move follows the recent launch of STO’s website in the United States, which is intended to take advantage of booming cross-border e-commerce. “This year will mark STO’s aggressive foray into foreign markets,” Zhang Cunwei, Director of STO’s overseas business unit, told the National Business Daily. STO set up a standalone business unit last September to tap the overseas market. The unit chose Okinawa as the logistics center after a research trip led by Chairman Chen Dejun the same month. Okinawa is well-placed to serve as a transit point for destinations elsewhere in Japan as well as China and South Korea. The airport in Naha, Okinawa, offers 24-hour cargo facilities and customs clearance. It handles scheduled traffic to key regional airports including Taipei, Macao, Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong. Hong Kong remains STO’s largest logistics center outside mainland China. The company is also poised to enter Malaysia and Singapore in 2014. STO’s U.S. unit has already launched warehouse services and some parcel business in the U.S. STO is not alone in its expansion plans. Twelve private Chinese express companies, such as Shanghai-based YTO Express Co and Shenzhen-based SF Express (Group) Co, have applied for international business licenses from the State Post Bureau of China. In 2009, SF Express established SF Airlines Co, China’s first private express delivery airline. The moves signal its ambition to cash in on cross-border online shopping, which is set to boom in coming years, said Xu Yong, Principal Analyst at China Express and Logistics Consulting. “The need for reliable and affordable cross-border delivery is becoming evident,” said Xu. According to consultancy Bain & Co, more than 50 express companies offer shipping to China. When shoppers buy goods on a foreign website, they can fill in a local address offered by the courier and transfer the products back to China, the China Daily reports.

China is likely to become the world’s largest market for express services this year, lifted by the e-commerce boom and fast rural infrastructure development, according to Ma Junsheng, Director General of the State Post Bureau of China. He added that the government will support domestic delivery enterprises as they move to set up more service points in county-level markets and continue to expand in the nation’s vast western regions. China is the second-largest market for express services, behind the United States. Last year, more than 7,500 express companies were operating in China, compared with 5,327 in 2010. Also last year, 9.2 billion packages and letters were delivered in and from China to global destinations by Chinese and international carriers, according to the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). Ma expected China’s express sector to face more sophisticated and segmented markets. Since China’s state-owned Express Mail Service and FedEx Corp of the United States began to offer next-morning, next-day and third-day delivery services, and refunds for delayed packages a decade ago, China’s express market has been transformed from price-oriented to service-oriented. Ma said the internet will play a critical role in reshaping China’s postal, logistics and express markets. “With the rise of online shopping, China’s e-commerce giants are all in the process of applying for licenses to operate express businesses. Their participation will further upgrade the service level of China’s postal industry,” said Ma.

United Parcel Service (UPS) is looking to keep an upper hand in the Chinese market by adding 14 inner-city express services next year. UPS began domestic courier services in 2012, when it was granted seven licenses by the State Post Bureau of China. It expanded to 19 first- and second-tier cities last year and expects to reach 33 cities in 2014. UPS CEO Scott Davis said that China’s middle class will grow significantly over the next 20 years and more delivery services will be needed, so the company wants to expand its network in the country. China is now the world’s third-largest market for express services behind the United States and Japan. Last year, 8,200 express companies were operating in China, compared with 5,327 in 2010. The average number of pieces of mail and packages delivered amounted to 143 million a day in 2012, according to the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). UPS owns and operates two large hubs in the country. In Guangdong province, its Shenzhen Intra-Asia Hub provides services for customers doing business with emerging Asian economies, while the company’s Shanghai international hub links Asia to the rest of the world. It also set up three regional hubs in Qingdao, Chengdu and Zhengzhou in the past three years. UPS has 399,000 employees across the world, with 6,170 in China. The company operates 208 weekly flights connecting China to the U.S., Europe and destinations across Asia. UPS also established a specialist facility with 22,000 square meters of storage space in Hangzhou to handle shipments of medical products. “There are a lot of areas that we’re looking at and we’ll invest in them as time goes on,” said Richard Loi, UPS China President in China.