(Yicai Global) June 29 -- Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, is launching an upgraded domestic courier service boasting night-time collections and half-day deliveries as well as a five-day global delivery service, raising the industry benchmark and shaking up the country’s courier sector.

Shares in other Chinese express delivery companies slumped today. SF Holding’s share price [SHE:002352] tumbled 5.5 percent to close at CNY44.76 (USD6.18) apiece. Earlier in the day it sank as much as 8.2 percent. JD Logistics [SHE:002352] slipped 4.8 percent to HKD12.16 (USD1.55), YTO Express [SHA:600233] fell 4.2 percent, STO Express [SHE:002468] 3.3 percent, Yunda Holding [SHE:002120] 1.5 percent and ZTO Express [HKG:2057] 1.9 percent.

Cainiao’s new self-operated premium express service Cainiao Express features deliveries as fast as half a day, drop offs at your doorstep and night-time pick ups in order to provide a superior courier service tailored to the needs of today’s modern clientele, it said yesterday.

Cainiao is also linking arms with Alibaba’s international e-retailer AliExpress to launch an industry-first five-day global delivery service.

Cainiao’s existing courier service Danniao, which it set up six years ago, mainly provides nationwide deliveries for Alibaba’s many e-marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall.

Cainiao Express will build on Danniao’s outlets and infrastructure such as cross-country transportation routes and sorting centers to become a national courier firm, a company source said.

Cainiao Express’ extra services of doorstep delivery and collecting parcels during the night will raise consumer expectations and put pressure on other courier firms to improve their services, said Zhang Xiaorong, head of think tank Deepin Technology Research Institute.

Industry leaders SF Holding and JD Logistics will find it hard to compete with Cainiao Express due to the firm’s close connections with Alibaba’s e-commerce network, an analyst told Yicai Global. This will put Shenzhen-based SF Holding under further pressure.

Global Reach

In the international market, Cainiao will focus on key logistics nodes in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia to deepen its capabilities in key overseas markets as part of its globalization push, Chief Executive Officer Wan Lin said at the 2023 Global Smart Logistics Summit yesterday. The target is to establish one to two local warehousing and distribution centers each year.

During the summit, Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice chairman, delivered a speech for the first time as chairman of Cainiao Smart Logistics, one of the Hangzhou-based internet giant's six new business groups. Tsai will succeed Daniel Zhang as Alibaba's chairman on Sep. 10.

China's logistics technology, which has been trained in large delivery volumes, boasts global competitiveness, Tsai said. Cainiao will further consolidate its leading status in digitization and intelligentization and will go on investing in building up its logistics capabilities, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor