Alibaba’s Cainiao to lead $1.53bn investment in Hong Kong logistics hub

Cainiao, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s logistics business, has announced it will lead a joint venture investment of $1.54bn into a new logistics centre in Hong Kong, Reuters has reported.

The centre, which will be located at Hong Kong Airport, will form part of a commitment by Alibaba to expand its global delivery network. Having taken over Cainiao in 2017, Alibaba stated it would pour $15bn into its global logistics network over the next five years.

The project is owned by a joint venture with Cainiao Smart Logistics Network owning 51%, state-owned China National Aviation Corp owning 35% and courier YTO Express owning 14%.

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The centre is set to open in 2023 and will take up approximately 380,000 sq m in floor space with the capacity to handle 1.7mn tonnes of cargo each year. According to Alizila, the facility will implement automated warehousing technology and automated temperature control, and Cainiao has pledged that it will aid the growth of SME’s involved in e-commerce.

Wan Lin, President of Cainiao, stated: “The Hong Kong hub will be yet another milestone on our way to achieving our goal of 72-hour global delivery.” 

Cainiao also announced last week it will open additional logistics hubs in Dubai, Hangzhou, Kuala Lumpur, Belgium and Moscow.This follows a $1.4bn investment last month by the Cainiao in Chinese express delivery company, ZTO Express, which the company stated was helping Alibaba and Cainiao develop a new digital economy.