FedEx is looking to expand its gateway facility by establishing a New South China Operations Center at its Asia Pacific hub located in Guangzhou, China.

FedEx Express announced that it has signed an agreement with Guangdong Airport Authority Logistics Company to expand and upgrade the FedEx Guangzhou Gateway by establishing a new FedEx South China Operations Center at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

Target operations by 2027

The new FedEx South China Operations Centre will cover an area of over 41,000 m2, more than double the size of the current Guangzhou Gateway, and is planned to become operational in 2027.

FedEx said the facility will connect outbound shipments from customers in southern China with FedEx's international network through the Asia Pacific Hub.

It will also receive and process inbound shipments arriving at the Hub for delivery to local customers.

The Center will include offices, sorting systems, operations areas, and a warehouse.

FedEx said the facility will be able to sort up to 25,000 packages and documents per hour, three times the sorting efficiency of the current facility.

Frontier technology and sustainability features will also be integrated into the facility's design to provide an eco-friendly working environment, according to FedEx.

"We continue to expand our network and service offerings to cater to the growing needs of our customers in the AMEA region and enhance their connections to global markets," said Kawal Preet, president of the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) at FedEx Express.

"China is integral to our regional and global network. Our investment in the South China Operations Center will support our long-term growth in a region with high economic potential."

Preet noted that Guangzhou sits within the Greater Bay Area of the Pearl River Delta which includes Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

"It is a region that is taking proactive steps to integrate against a blueprint that will further strengthen its position as a global economic powerhouse," she added.

FedEx Asia Pacific Hub at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, one of the main FedEx gateways in China, connects Asian customers to FedEx U.S. and North American networks through Anchorage and Memphis (USA), and the European network through Paris (France) and Cologne (Germany). 

Currently, the FedEx Asia Pacific Hub operates more than 210 flights per week, while the FedEx Guangzhou Gateway handles approximately 40% of the hub's import and export cargo volume.

In 2021, Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province saw its total import and export foreign trade volume exceed by 1.08 trillion yuan(US$159.58 billion).

FedEx noted that its new South China Operations Centre will become an important component in the local SME ecosystem helping to fuel further growth.

Last year, FedEx introduced six new intercontinental flights originating from the Asia Pacific (APAC), contributing an additional capacity of almost 2,700 tonnes (2,690,000 kgs) in and out of APAC to the U.S. and Europe.