Cainiao led JV to run new Hong Kong Airport e-commerce hub

Airport Authority Hong Kong has awarded a tender to develop and manage a premium logistics centre to a joint venture led by Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group.
Other shareholders include China National Aviation Corporation and YTO Express.
The centre, at Kwo Lo Wan in the South Cargo Precinct of the International Airport, has a footprint of about 5.3 ha and an estimated gross floor area of 380,000 sq m, making it the third-largest warehouse in Hong Kong.
Under the agreement, the joint venture will design, construct, finance and manage the centre. 
The award follows an open tender exercise held earlier, which received strong bids from local and international players, said the Airport Authority.
Scheduled to open in 2023, the centre will serve global e-commerce business, in line with the authority’s strategy to capture growing cross-border on-line trade and temperature-controlled products such as pharmaceuticals.
The airport, which has been the world’s busiest cargo airport for eight consecutive years, also expects to strengthen its position with the opening of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge later this year and the start of the Three-runway System in 2024.
In 2017, cargo and airmail tonnage grew 9.4% year on year to over 5m tonnes, making it the first airport ever to cross this milestone.
The new logistics centre has been made as future-proof as possible, with high specifications to attract fast-growing air cargo segments.
There will be ramp access to all floors and it will allow the use of large-scale robotics and automation. High environmental standards will be adopted, such as BEAM Plus Gold and LEED Gold.
Last week, Cainiao announced the selection of five cities to become its global hubs, with Hangzhou, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Liege and Moscow the chosen locations.
According to the Alizila news network, which is also controlled by Alibaba, the e-commerce giant revealed to the Global Smart Logistics Summit its strategy to create more efficient logistics operations and offer single-day delivery in China and 72-hour delivery across the globe.
This includes the establishment of the five hubs and also investment in smart logistics.
Read more e-commerce logistics news