News / Cainiao and Worldwide to develop digital infrastructure 'unlike any seen before'

© Alexey Novikov

China’s Worldwide Logistics and CargoGM are set to develop digital infrastructure in partnership with Alibaba’s logistics business, Cainiao.

Cainiao has ‘put its money where its mouth is’ and joined financial institutions in investing “several tens of millions of US dollars” in digital developments by Worldwide, with which it has partnered since the end of last year.

The new agreement will see Worldwide and CargoGM create digital infrastructure “unlike any seen before”, to provide a “seamless-yet-economical end-to-end logistics service for international trading businesses anywhere”.

Worldwide Logistics and Cainiao have established a joint-venture, Flying Fish Supply Chain Technology, part of Alibaba’s international core business unit, to provide one-stop online logistics platform services for small and medium cross-border businesses.

Demand for digital end-to-end cross-border services has increased, says Worldwide, and customers will be able to place and track orders online.

Zhao Jian, general manager of Cainiao Global, said: “Cainiao, together with Worldwide Logistics and CargoGM, will integrate Alibaba’s ecological business flow resources, Worldwide Logistics’ global offline logistics capability and CargoGM’s digitised logistics ability to build an end-to-end global digital ecological system, empowering and enabling the industry.”

Zhang Ying, a partner of investor Sinovation Ventures, added: “The value of the global international freight forwarding industry market has exceeded Rmb1 trillion ($147bn) in value.

“With the alternating changes of the international logistics supply and demand, China’s international freight forwarding companies will usher in the enormous market opportunities. Worldwide Logistics is expected to build up underlying infrastructures and digital operating systems to undertake global trade and become a company promoting industrial innovation worldwide. “