Kerry Logistics, Correos form e-commerce partnership

   Kerry Logistics Network Limited announced Monday it has established a joint venture with Spain’s national postal service, Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos S.A., to provide end-to-end cross-border e-commerce solutions from China to worldwide destinations in which Kerry Logistics holds a majority interest.
   The joint venture is designed to take the customer experience to “the next level,” according to the announcement, which said this will be achieved by “leveraging Kerry Logistics’ broad experience in origin sortation, line haul and Customs clearance and Correos’ years of expertise in the postal services.”
   Kerry Logistics said China’s General Administration of Customs reported a 67% year-over-year increase in cross-border e-commerce exports in 2018.
   As part of the joint venture, a sortation center will be set up in South China. It will be equipped with an automated sorting system and “stringent parcel screening and security controls to ensure speedy parcel handling and full compliance,” Kerry Logistics said, adding the facility is targeted to open in the fourth quarter. 
   Kerry Logistics said the facility will occupy more than 200,000 square feet and have a sorting capacity of 500,000 parcels per day.
   William Ma, Kerry Logistics’ group managing director, said the joint venture “combines the diverse capabilities of its two partners, each complementing the other to refine the process of e-commerce parcels handling and deliveries. As China’s cross-border e-commerce exports grow, we are determined to prepare ourselves for seizing emerging opportunities.
   “Utilizing our deep understanding of customers’ needs both in China and abroad, Kerry Logistics is confident in meeting the rapidly growing international demands through working closely with Correos,” Ma said.
   Juan Manuel Serrano Quintana (pictured above second from right), president of the Correos board of directors, said the partnership “presents a unique opportunity for Correos to capture the outbound e-commerce parcel deliveries from China, which is the largest trade and economic partner for Spain in Asia. It also offers a way forward for Correos to create a sustainable business model to meet the growing demand in the booming e-commerce business and the ever-changing customer needs.”