Alibaba leads building of Hong Kong logistics center

Alibaba Cainiao says the facility “should be able to handle tens of millions of packages a year and bring an additional 1.7 million tons of cargo per year to the Hong Kong airport.”    Alibaba Group’s logistics arm, Cainiao Network, reportedly is leading a group that will invest $1.5 billion to build a logistics center at Hong Kong International Airport.
   The website Alizila, described by Alibaba as its “corporate news website,” said Wednesday that with more than 4 million square feet of floor space (380,000 square meters), the facility will be located at the world’s busiest cargo airport and is slated to go online in 2023.
   Cainiao will hold a 51 percent stake in the project, while its joint venture partners China National Aviation Corp. (Group) Ltd. and YTO Express will hold 35 percent and 14 percent stakes, respectively.
   The logistics center will include an air-cargo processing center, a sorting center and order-fulfillment center and feature automated warehousing technology and automated temperature control.
    Cainiao said the facility “should be able to handle tens of millions of packages a year and bring an additional 1.7 million tons of cargo per year to the Hong Kong airport when fully operational, supporting burgeoning activity by small and medium-sized companies involved in e-commerce.”
    Cainiao already has three global fulfillment centers operated by its partners in Hong Kong. Cainiao also opened an airfreight route between Hong Kong and Belgium last month, the second international route set up for e-commerce parcels after opening one between Hangzhou and Moscow earlier this year.
   Last week Cainiao unveiled plans to open five hubs around the world, in Dubai, Hangzhou, Kuala Lumpur, Liège in Belgium and Moscow.