FEDEX Express has completed upgrades to its gateway facility in Shenzhen, the U.S. shipping service provider said Tuesday.

By renovating and expanding its import warehouse, the updated gateway will further improve import operations and increase the efficiency of customs clearance for customers in southern China, FedEx said in a statement.

Located at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, the Shenzhen gateway is one of four major FedEx international gateways in China and primarily responsible for handling import and export packages in major cities in southern China and parts of the southwestern China.

The upgraded import warehouse is now equipped with an advanced intelligent management system and an additional sorting belt.

The gateway has expanded its floor area by 48% to over 4,500 square meters, doubling the sorting capacity for packages and documents and increasing freight handling capacity by 50%.

FedEx’s facility upgrades come as Shenzhen’s foreign trade surged in the first two months of 2024. The city’s exports and imports for the January-February period increased 45% year on year to reach 675.18 billion yuan (US$93.78 billion), an all-time high that places Shenzhen at the forefront of major Chinese cities.

As a major export-oriented Chinese city, Shenzhen’s foreign trade rose 5.9% year on year to a new record high of 3.87 trillion yuan in 2023, with exports jumping 12.5% year on year to 2.46 trillion yuan to lead major cities in China for the 31st consecutive year.

In 2023, Shenzhen’s cross-border e-commerce imports and exports increased 75.2% year on year to exceed 300 billion yuan, a new record high that further consolidates Shenzhen’s status as a leader in the country’s cross-border e-commerce trade.

“As a pioneer in China’s economic and social innovation and development, Shenzhen has always been an important part of FedEx’s development strategy,” said Robert Chu, FedEx China’s vice president of operations.

FedEx is also building its southern China operations center at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong.

The Guangzhou facility, scheduled to start operations in 2027, is expected to sort up to 25,000 packages and documents per hour, which is three times the amount of the company’s current Guangzhou gateway. The current facility operates more than 240 international flights and 700 trucks per week, reaching more than 220 countries and regions.

FedEx, which first made its foray into the Chinese market in 1984, is the first international express company to operate cargo flights at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport. The U.S. shipping service provider currently operates 10 international flights in Shenzhen per week that serve to link Asian and American markets. (Yang Yunfei)