DHL Expands China Network Coverage with Five New Offices to Meet Shifting Industry Needs

SHANGHAI, Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --

• Achieves 100% coverage in Tier 1 cities across China
• Targets to establish 5 branch offices, 20 sales offices and 30% coverage in Tier 3 cities by 2015
• New offices mark a strategic step for the company's domestic rail and road service development

DHL Global Forwarding, the air, sea, road and rail freight specialist division of DHL, the world's leading logistics company, is expanding its logistics services network in China to meet the demands of shifting manufacturing patterns. The company announced the opening of five new branch offices, of which two are located in the country's most important inland regions -- Zhengzhou city in Henan Province and Taiyuan city in Shanxi Province. The other three offices are located in Tier 3 cities -- Wenzhou (Zhejiang Province), Xuzhou (Jiangsu Province) and Huizhou (Guangdong Province). The move is aimed at better meeting the fast growing demand in central and western China for logistics services of international standards.

DHL Global Forwarding also plans to establish two more branch offices and 20 sales offices, with the aim of achieving 30% coverage in Tier 3 cities by 2015.

DHL supports industry transfer into inland China

The opening of DHL Global Forwarding's newest offices are timely as China's manufacturing industry goes through a major geographical shift from coastal areas like the Yangtze River and the Pearl River deltas, towards the central and western regions.

Said Roger Crook, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight: "With the development of central and western China becoming one of the Chinese government's priorities as part its 12th five-year plan to speed up the industrial transfer to inland areas, DHL has benefited from a rapid build-up of infrastructure in these regions. This has in turn, facilitated the provision of DHL's scheduled, reliable and flexible door-to-door services multi-modal transport solutions. Solutions, which, we believe are already shaping the future of logistics.  

"Foreign investment into the central and western regions is being strongly encouraged by central and provincial governments (Note 1)," continued Mr. Crook. "In fact, their efforts have seen foreign direct investment (FDI) to central and western China surging by 27.6 percent year-on-year in 2010, compared to 15.8 percent year-on-year in the eastern regions, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (Note 2)."

DHL gets closer to its customers' operations

Located in the heart of central China, Zhengzhou's GDP alone nearly doubled in less than five years, exceeding RMB400 billion at the end of 2010 (Note 3). The local government has announced plans to invest RMB200 million a year to accelerate the efforts of building the city into an international logistics center by 2015 (Note 4).

Similarly in Taiyuan, China's largest coal producing city, GDP reportedly exceeded RMB177.8 billion at the end of 2010. With its industry output comprising primarily of ferrous metal smelt, coal mining and processing, chemical processing and transportation equipment manufacturing, the city witnessed a CAGR of 11.58% from 2005 to 2009. (Note 5)

Said Kelvin Leung, CEO, North Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding: "As one of China's key railway hubs and one of the cities in Central China earmarked for commercial and trade reforms, Zhengzhou has attracted investment from over 10,000 domestic and international enterprises to date. Setting up an office here allows us to be in the heart of our customers' business operations. It enables us to understand and respond to their logistics and supply chain needs more expediently and effectively."

Strategic step towards long term development of multi-modal service portfolio

The establishment of branch offices in inland China bolsters DHL Global Forwarding's strategic plans to enhance its multi-modal service offering in the long run. Its new office in Zhengzhou, one of the eight key railway hubs of China, for instance, sits strategically at the junction of Longhai Railway (east-west) and Jingguang Railway (north-south).

Meanwhile, Taiyuan boasts its own advantage with its East Railway Station being one of the biggest rail container yards in China that also facilitates regular access to Qingdao and Tianjin seaport. The railway station is the terminal linking Shi-Tai railway, Tongpu Railway, Shitai Railway and Jingyuan Railway with high-speed rail access to Shijiazhuang, Beijing, Shenyang, Zhengzhou and other major cities.

Steve Huang, CEO, China, DHL Global Forwarding, said: "Looking beyond Beijing and Shanghai and tapping into China's existing infrastructure in these inland markets enables us to make our multi-modal solutions that much more comprehensive. The customers can now not just opt for a combination of rail, road, sea and air transport with different transit times and costs but with different origins and destinations in mind as per their needs too."

Notes:

1. Source: Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Central and Western Regions' Undertaking of Industrial Transfer, http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2010-09/06/content_1696516.htm
2. Source: http://caefi.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/o/201106/20110607606757.html
3. Source: http://www.ha.stats.gov.cn/hntj/tjfw/jjsd/hnjj/webinfo/2011/03/1298696988948801.htm
4. Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/henan/2011-06-16/content_2913869.html
5. Source: Taiyuan Statistical Yearbook 2010; Economy and Social Development Report of each province

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Notes to Editor

• To date, DHL Global Forwarding has launched two end-to-end rail services. The first links 14 cities in China to seven CIS countries and Russia whereby ocean freight through the Chinese ports of Lianyungang, Tianjin and Qingdao can be directly loaded onto the rail network or taken by road and consolidated before taking to the tracks in Beijing or Shanghai. The second - dubbed the Genghis Khan Connection - is a scheduled tri-weekly cross border rail solution available during the high season from April to October linking Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia by rail to Tianjin, China and out to the rest of the world.
• At present, DHL Global Forwarding China has branch offices in 40 cities throughout China including: Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Beijing, Dalian, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Ji'nan, Xi'an, Urumqi, Wuxi, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hefei, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Chengdu, Wuhan, Chongqing, Changsha, Nanchang, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Kunming, Nanning, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhuhai, Haikou, Huizhou, Wenzhou, Xuzhou, Taiyuan and Zhengzhou.

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