The Henan province’s fast-growing economy attracted the third-party logistics provider to Zhengzhou, according to a press release. Kerry Logistics expects the warehouse to harbor high volumes of technological, automotive, industrial and material-science goods, all emerging sectors in the region.
Credit China’s “Go West” campaign with Zhengzhou’s growth. Kerry Logistics’ managing director for Mainland China, Edwardo Erni, shed more light on the movement, which took flight in 2000.
“China’s coastal provinces have re-focused to attract manufacturers of higher value-added products, and there has been a migration of production to the central and western regions due to lower land and labor costs,” Erni said in a statement. “[Therefore,] we see the potential to transform Zhengzhou into one of China’s manufacturing and processing hubs.”
What’s more, he said, “The new logistics center will strengthen our comprehensive logistics network in the central and western regions of China.”
Bolstering logistics networks in this region is a noble pursuit, some industry insiders assert. Wenjun Li, head of airfreight at DHL Global Forwarding China, for instance, fears that China’s airfreight operations are ill-equipped to handle the growth propelled by the “Go West” movement.
“The imbalance of airfreight-handling capabilities in different areas of China is one of the biggest challenges,” he told Air Cargo World in October. “With more and more imported, high-tech products moving into inland China, airfreight gateways in West China, such as Chongqing, Chengdu and Zhengzhou, will face capacity constraints and a shortage of ground-handlers.”