BEIJING - Civil
Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Director
Yang Yuanyuan said recently that China will
conform with the global development trends in the
airfreight industry by further promoting the
opening of its airfreight market to overseas
investors.
Meanwhile, it will pursue
airfreight hub construction and continue to open
aviation rights, and support Sino-foreign joint
ventures in the airfreight sector.
Yang
noted that China has signed comparatively relaxed
bilateral transport agreements with the United
States and India. The Sino-US Airfreight Transport
Agreement, signed in July 2004, for the
first time allowed US
airfreight enterprises to construct freight hubs
in China, an attempt by China to attract foreign
freight companies to open freight hubs there.
In addition, China has opened the No 5
airfreight rights for some cities, including
Haikou, the capital of South China's Hainan province,
attracting many foreign airline companies.
In fact, airfreight has become a hot spot
for airline investments recently. Five airfreight
companies, including Jade Cargo International Co
Ltd, Great Wall Airlines and Shanghai International
Airfreight Co Ltd have been officially approved,
and are now undergoing examinations to assess
their qualifications to take part in the sector.
They are expected to start operations
later this year. According to China's commitments
to the World Trade Organization, as of December
2005, China's logistics sector as a whole has been
opened, allowing foreign investors to enter the
express delivery market.
As a result,
multinationals which have long been attracted to
China's distribution market, such as United Parcel
Service (UPS) and DHL entered China's aviation
logistic and transportation market quickly,
seeking wholly owned operations in China.
It is expected that in the next few years,
China's airfreight volume will maintain an average
annual growth rate of over 10%, the fastest growth
in the world, much higher than the world's average
annual growth of 6.2%.
