China to Build Cargo Transport Bases in Yangtze River Delta, Tags Jiaxing as Air Freight Hub
Chen Shanshan
DATE:  Dec 05 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China to Build Cargo Transport Bases in Yangtze River Delta, Tags Jiaxing as Air Freight Hub China to Build Cargo Transport Bases in Yangtze River Delta, Tags Jiaxing as Air Freight Hub

(Yicai Global) Dec. 4 -- China is to build a series of freight transportation centers in the Yangtze River Delta region as it seeks to promote regional integration and to keep up with a booming domestic and international express delivery sector, the cabinet said in a document this week.

The Yangtze River Delta region, which comprises Shanghai and parts of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, is one of China's most economically developed areas. It accounts for over 40 percent of the country's domestic and international express deliveries. The air courier business alone is growing at a rate of 44 percent a year.

An international air freight distribution center will be built in Hefei, Anhui province, an air freight hub in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, and an air intermodal center in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, according to the document.

Jiaxing, close to the major metropolises of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wuxi, has made great efforts in recent years to leverage its strategic location to become a potential super hub. In 2016, its airport underwent reconstruction to enable it to support many large aircraft including the Boeing 767-200, Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320-200.

In July last year, the city government penned a deal with courier giant YTO Express Group to build a global aviation logistics hub at Jiaxing airport. The first phase will cost CNY12.2 billion (USD1.7 billion) and cover almost one million square meters. Shanghai-based YTO plans to run 50 cargo aircraft from the base handling annual volume of 1.1 million tons by 2030.

Jiaxing has some of the most convenient air, railway, highway, and water transport connections in China, Su Xiufeng, chairman of YTO Express Airlines, told Yicai Global.

Core city clusters including the Yangtze River Delta region, the Pearl River Delta region, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Belt are within a three-hour flight of Jiaxing airport. It is also only three hours' drive from most of China's 1.4 billion consumers.

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Keywords:   Logistics,The Yangtze River Delta,YTO Express Group