Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba, is establishing a strong logistics infrastructure at Hainan’s free trade zone as it looks to support trade between Singapore, Hainan and the Chinese Greater Bay Area.

The company plans to make Hainan one of its key hubs by implementing technologies and digitalised services, as well as expanding its air network with new cargo routes to key countries for ecommerce like Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Cainiao aims to fly over 800 international cargo flights in Hainan by the end of 2021.

In April, the Alibaba logistics arm announced plans to launch weekly chartered flights between Singapore and Hainan to ferry duty-free international products, via travel hotspots Sanya and Haikou.

The company said it struck a partnership which will allow it to provide full-chain logistics services for one of the duty-free license holders in the free trade zone. This includes warehousing and pickup point management as well as shipping services between warehouse and airports.

“We aim to provide a stable and highly efficient logistics network across the Greater Bay Area (GBA), Hainan and Southeast Asia,” said James Zhao, Cainiao’s general manager of global supply chain.

“Smart logistics and supply chain will continue to play an instrumental and fundamental role in facilitating global trade and e-commerce, and the work we are doing in Hainan will evidently help us to pioneer more comprehensive services and solutions to benefit tens of millions of consumers and merchants globally,” Zhao added.

Cainiao plans to increase its space in Hainan’s bonded zone in the next three years and is looking to develop ‘Hainan’s largest smart warehouse’ for cross-border and bulk goods and future inbound duty-free goods.

The smart warehouse will be equipped with over a hundred guided robots, and automated logistics arms and forklifts, which will be integrated with the digitalised customs clearance system, Cainiao noted.