[photopress:beijingairport.jpg,full,alignright]In the first quarter of next year China’s first airport-based bonded logistics center will begin operation in Beijing. The idea is that it will become an important Northeast Asian air cargo transportation hub. The bonded area, essential for international air cargo, is a key part of a 3-square-kilometer airport logistics park. The plan is that this will be fully operational by the end of next year. Total investment in the logistic park is RMB3.6 billion ($456 million).
Desmond Shum, chief executive officer of the Airport City Logistics Park Company responsible for planning, developing and managing the park, said, ‘The logistics park, together with the ongoing third expansion of the Beijing airport, will serve the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Beijing could rank No 1 in terms of air transport connectivity in major airports of Northeast Asia, but it falls behind airports in South Korea and Japan in terms of cargo transportation.’
South Korea’s Incheon International Airport handled 2.15 million tons of cargo last year and was ranked the fifth-largest cargo airport but most of this was trans-shipment. Beijing airport transported 782,066 tons of cargo last year.
The logistics park, located at the north end of the airport’s second runway, will bring much of the business back from South Korea to China. The logistics park will provide ‘one-stop customs clearance’ for companies doing international trade.
Zhang Junkuo, a senior researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said, ‘The logistics park would directly create RMB7.4 billion ($937 million) in gross domestic product for Beijing and the airport-related economy would contribute 5.49 per cent of Beijing’s GDP in 2015.’
Source: Xinhua
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