[photopress:dhl_female_worker_china_1.jpg,full,alignright]Express delivery giant DHL will invest several hundreds of millions of US dollars in its seventh regional hub in the Asia-Pacific region. It has to make a decision between Shanghai and a South Korean city for the hub in two months.
Jerry Hsu president of DHL Greater China and South Korea, said, ‘We are still evaluating factors like landing rights, oil prices and local infrastructure, and will make a decision soon.’ Read that as DHL seeing who can squeeze a few more concessions such as cuts in landing fees and very possibly free ice-cream on Thursdays.
If Shanghai is chosen, the investment to build the facility may double
DHL’s total investment in China in the past five years. DHL has committed to invest $325 million on the mainland from 2003 to 2007.
China has been one of the fastest-growing markets for the logistics firm (now owned by the German Deutsche Post) growing by about 35% a year.
Jerry Hsu said DHL has a 30% market share in the Chinese express delivery segment, far ahead of its competitors such as Fedex, UPS or local rivals like China Post and private firms.
UPS, a major competitor of DHL, also announced last month that it will establish an air delivery hub in Shanghai, the fourth such facility in the Asia-Pacific region, with an initial investment of $20 million.
Fedex said in March that it would open a China regional hub in Hangzhou, with a first-stage investment of $2 million. It also bought out its Chinese partner DTW in their joint venture.
DHL was the first foreign firm to launch domestic services in China.
A small bet is that once DHL has wrung every concession possible — including the ice cream — it will decide on Shanghai.
Source: CCTV