SHANGHAI, Nov. 27 – Express shipping and logistics giant, DHL has signed a deal to invest US$175 million on a North Asia hub to be located at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The move aims to increase the company’s Asia Pacific scope and cement its market leadership in China.

This is the second cargo brand to invest in the airport, after UPS announced plans to build its own 96,000 square meter hub by next year, making it the first in the world to be equipped with two international cargo hubs.

Daniel McHugh, chief executive officer of DHL Express Asia Pacific, told Cargonews Asia that the announcement, “underlines DHL’s strong commitment and confidence in the Shanghai government’s vision of establishing the city as a world economic center, as well as the Shanghai Airport Group’s objective of building Pudong International Airport as the international air hub of choice.”

“Our task as a global logistic provider is to network the world. We are confident that the new hub will give us an even greater competitive edge in managing the huge and complex global trade that is being routed to this region,” he added.

The North Asia hub is scheduled to be operational by the second half of 2010 and will be located nearby the airport’s soon-to-be-completed third runway. It will join the ranks of the company’s five other hubs serving the region: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Incheon, Singapore and Sydney.

More importantly, the new 55,000 square meter hub will improve the company service to its clients located in North Asia and Yangtze River Delta region. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 35 percent of the country’s import and export activities come from the Yangtze River Delta
“The investment of DHL signals that Shanghai has become an international center for cargo transportation,” Wu Nianzu, board chairman of the Shanghai Airport Authority told Xinhua.

“After both hubs go into operation, the Pudong airport might become the world’s top three in terms of cargo transportation,” he said.

DHL is a German-owned international air express network that caters to 120,000 destinations found in more than 220 countries. In China alone, the company operates four major gateways: Pudong, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.