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.