Major Japanese parcel delivery company Sagawa Express Co. said Wednesday it has set up China’s first nationwide distribution firm with local partner China Poly Group Corp.
Poly-Sagawa Logistics Co. Ltd., a 50-50 joint venture, was established up in Shenzhen in June with 10.8 million dollars in capital and aims to start operations in September, having already received government approval, the companies said in a statement.
Read MorePrime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan promised Tuesday to privatize a public corporation running the nation’s postal service. Koizumi told a press conference that the privatization of public corporations in charge of postal services and highway operations will be the focal of a presidential poll within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party slated for Sept. 20.
Privatization of the postal service could open the door for international express companies such as FedEx, United Parcel Service, DHL and TNT to expand their operations in Japan.
Read MoreJapan Post, a public corporation created in April, intends to redouble efforts to turn around the loss-making mail service it inherited from the government.
The mail service division of the country’s postal service incurred a loss of 22.5 billion yen in fiscal 2002 ended in March, after posting an 8-billion-yen profit the previous year, as it failed to cover a drop in mail delivery revenues with cost cuts.
Under an action plan adopted in May, Japan Post is reducing its payroll while launching a new cut-rate parcel service in a bid to meet its profit target of 1.4 billion yen for fiscal 2003 and 12.6 billion yen for fiscal 2004.
Read MoreThe number of parcels handled by door-to-door parcel delivery services in Japan in fiscal 2002 grew 3.7 pct from the previous year to 2,751.36 million units, the government said Monday. The rise reflected increased shopping by mail order, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.
Read MoreCompetition between Japan Post and private door-to-door delivery firms in the parcel delivery market has intensified in the three months since the new public corporation took over the former state-run postal services in April. However, according to analysts, little progress has been made in the debate over the privatization of the corporation’s postal savings and life insurance services, despite calls from the financial industry for reforms in these areas.
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