Sagawa Express and China Postal Bureau tie up for delivery service

The Sagawa Express Co. group, a Japanese delivery company, announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of China Post to launch a parcel delivery service covering the entire Chinese market.

Sagawa Global Express Co. _ the international courier arm of Sagawa’s holding company, SG Holdings Co. _ will join forces with China Courier Service Corp., a subsidiary of State Postal Bureau, Sagawa said in a statement. The companies signed an agreement Dec. 7, according to the release.

The tie-up will enable the companies to share their delivery and pickup networks in China and Japan and the service will target corporate customers, it said.

“The alliance will enable us to meet the demand in a growing market and provide high quality service,” said Sagawa spokesman Hirofumi Otsuki.

The partners will start a trial service for parcels to Japan in late December in Shanghai and expanding it to Beijing and Guangzhou later, according to Sagawa. As for parcels to China, the companies plan to formally begin delivery next spring following a trial, it said.

The partnership would be the first between a foreign courier company and China’s state postal service, Japanese daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

The move is aimed at penetrating China’s booming market where U.S. and European delivery service companies such as DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post AG, and FedEx Corp. have strong presence, the paper said.

In fiscal 2005, air freight from Japan to China jumped 17 percent, according to Nikkei.