https://www.scmp.com/rss/325749/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Daniel Ren Daniel Ren GLP, a global operator and investor in logistics, digital infrastructure, renewable energy and finance, is deepening its commitment to China’s growth, projecting as much as a 50 per cent rise in logistics rental rates, supported by stronger domestic consumption and wider adoption of alternative energies. Angela Zhao, CEO of GLP China, said the country’s 15th five-year development plan for 2026 to 2030 would further cement the company’s role as a global thematic investor in “new economy”... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3347106/singapore-headquartered-glp-eyes-50-rent-surge-china-demand-fuels-logistics-growth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3347106/singapore-headquartered-glp-eyes-50-rent-surge-china-demand-fuels-logistics-growth?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:00:20 +0000 Cheryl Arcibal Cheryl Arcibal The demand for storage of commodities and art is providing a much-needed boost for Hong Kong’s logistics properties, where recovery has lagged behind other commercial real estate segments. New demand from the London Metal Exchange’s (LME) inclusion of Hong Kong in the exchange’s global warehousing network is helping the segment, where 11 licences have been issued to warehouse operators in the city. “New space is being taken from that angle and that’s around 30,000 sq ft to 100,000 sq ft per... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3327911/hong-kongs-warehouse-sector-gets-support-robust-demand-storage-metals-and-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3327911/hong-kongs-warehouse-sector-gets-support-robust-demand-storage-metals-and-art?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Oct 2025 01:30:14 +0000 Rapid expansion by Chinese e-commerce companies boosted the logistics sector of the property market in the Greater Bay Area in 2023, as cross-border retailers including Temu, Shein, AliExpress and TikTok Shop scrambled to secure space to fuel their growth. For example, PDD Holdings-owned Temu ended the year with more than 30 warehouses in Guangdong province, up from single digits at the start of the year – before the company’s successful Super Bowl campaign. Five bay area cities – Guangzhou,... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3261309/logistics-property-chinese-cross-border-e-commerce-firms-fuel-demand-investment-prospects-greater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3261309/logistics-property-chinese-cross-border-e-commerce-firms-fuel-demand-investment-prospects-greater?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 May 2024 03:30:25 +0000 Six years after China’s first fully automated port container terminal began operating, the country now has its own completely independent intelligent port management and control systems. The facility opened last month in the new third phase of the Qingdao Port’s Qianwan Container Terminal. The domestically produced technology means that China – home to the most automated container terminals in the world – can now build and run its own terminal production lines without relying on Western parts or... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3250341/china-stakes-global-dominance-race-build-intelligent-ports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3250341/china-stakes-global-dominance-race-build-intelligent-ports?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jan 2024 15:00:24 +0000 Hong Kong logistics company owner Ching Chi-wai looked wistfully at his 60,000 sq ft warehouse and said he had never felt more hopeless. He may have to close the Elegant Logistics Group, which he founded in 2014 and grew to have 40 employees, more than 20 trucks and equipment, moving mainly electronic goods, fashion items and accessories between mainland China and countries in Asia, Europe and North America. It is among a cluster of logistics firms in Ha Tsuen, Hung Shui Kiu, in the western part... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3243136/helpless-can-hong-kong-logistics-firms-survive-eviction-uncertain-future-government-takes-back-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3243136/helpless-can-hong-kong-logistics-firms-survive-eviction-uncertain-future-government-takes-back-new?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:30:16 +0000 When the November collapse of FTX, once the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, led to a plunge in virtual asset prices and shook the industry through a series of cascading business failures, some Web3 evangelists promised this was just growing pains for a blockchain-based future internet that extends far beyond digital currencies. Then another bombshell came a couple of weeks later, when Maersk and IBM announced they were discontinuing the TradeLens blockchain network. Supply... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3216365/blockchain-based-logistics-looks-increasingly-chinese-after-exit-maersk-hong-kongs-gsbn-has-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3216365/blockchain-based-logistics-looks-increasingly-chinese-after-exit-maersk-hong-kongs-gsbn-has-global?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Apr 2023 22:30:16 +0000 China’s Covid-19 lockdowns, which have severely disrupted logistics and dampened consumer spending, have dealt a heavy blow to the country’s e-commerce giant JD.com, which is known for its efficient national distribution and delivery system. The company reported 3 billion yuan (US$444 million) in losses for the first quarter because of logistics disruptions and weak consumer spending, in sharp contrast to the 3.6 billion yuan in profit it posted in the same period last year. Costs in warehousing... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3178205/jdcom-takes-heavy-losses-first-quarter-after-strict-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3178205/jdcom-takes-heavy-losses-first-quarter-after-strict-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 May 2022 09:00:11 +0000 Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted, logistics real estate has been all the rage. Having accounted for just over 10 per cent of global commercial property transactions in 2016, industrial and logistics assets were responsible for 21 per cent of investment activity last year, and as much as 29 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region, data from CBRE shows. Trends that were apparent long before the virus struck – the exponential growth of e-commerce, the adoption of technologies that help... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3174618/shanghais-brutal-lockdown-defining-moment-chinas-logistics-sector?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3174618/shanghais-brutal-lockdown-defining-moment-chinas-logistics-sector?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Apr 2022 14:00:14 +0000 A new California law designed to prevent the warehousing industry from overworking employees doesn’t name a specific company. But the legislation’s target is clear: Amazon.com Inc, which has given machines unparalleled control over workers and is accused of using the technology to impose unreasonable demands on them. Authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, AB 701 prohibits the use of monitoring systems that thwart basic worker rights such as rest periods, bathroom breaks and safety. The... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3161647/amazons-ai-managers-targeted-california-legislation-meant-empower?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3161647/amazons-ai-managers-targeted-california-legislation-meant-empower?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Dec 2021 03:00:48 +0000 Non-residential real estate investments into Hong Kong have soared this year, as mainland Chinese and foreign investors snapped up industrial buildings, shops, serviced apartments and car parking bays in the city. Purchases by foreigners and Chinese investors soared to a two-year high of HK$17.3 billion (US$2.2 billion) in the eight months through mid-August, according to data compiled by Midland IC&I, which tracks non-residential property deals larger than HK$100 million. Investors domiciled in... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3146375/commercial-real-estate-deals-soar-hong-kong-easy-loans-prompt-buyers-snap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3146375/commercial-real-estate-deals-soar-hong-kong-easy-loans-prompt-buyers-snap?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Aug 2021 01:30:25 +0000 Institutional investors are always ahead of market cycles. They have a strong sense when the market is about to turn and what asset classes are going to make them a fortune. Recently, they have been grabbing Hong Kong’s industrial blocks. In line with global trends, fund managers ticked industrial property as their most-favoured sector in Hong Kong, with 11 of 14 deals done so far this year involving factories and warehouses. Property funds have been particularly active in the Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3144365/industrial-property-shines-beacon-recovery-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3144365/industrial-property-shines-beacon-recovery-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Aug 2021 04:01:12 +0000 Asian real-estate logistics group ESR Cayman plans to buy rival ARA Asset Management to become the Asia-Pacific region’s largest real asset fund manager powered by the new economy with a portfolio of assets worth US$129 billion. Hong Kong-listed ESR will buy the Singapore-based firm for US$5.2 billion by issuing US$4.7 billion worth of new shares and loans and US$519 million in cash, according to a stock exchange filing. It will raise the cash via a stock placement and internal resources. The... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3143866/esr-buy-rival-ara-us52-billion-create-asias-top-real-estate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3143866/esr-buy-rival-ara-us52-billion-create-asias-top-real-estate?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Aug 2021 01:02:19 +0000 Just a cursory glance at the data on Asia’s logistics property markets last year shows the extent to which the sector not only proved resilient to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has benefited hugely from the virus-induced acceleration of e-commerce. Preliminary figures published by real estate consultancy RCA on January 26 showed that investment in the region’s logistics sector reached US$13.5 billion in 2020, an all-time high. South Korea and Australia enjoyed record levels of investment, while... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3120962/why-asias-booming-logistics-property-market-will-only-benefit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3120962/why-asias-booming-logistics-property-market-will-only-benefit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Feb 2021 01:15:06 +0000 Amazon job ads are everywhere. Plastered on city buses, displayed on career websites, slotted between songs on classic rock stations. They promise a quick start, US$15 an hour and health insurance. In recent weeks, America’s second-largest employer has rolled out videos featuring happy package handlers wearing masks, a pandemic-era twist on its annual holiday season hiring spree. Amazon’s object is to persuade potential recruits that there’s no better place to work. The reality is less rosy.... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3114432/amazons-warehouse-pay-rate-has-left-some-workers-homeless-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3114432/amazons-warehouse-pay-rate-has-left-some-workers-homeless-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Dec 2020 02:45:01 +0000 Institutional investors, insurance giants and sovereign wealth funds are rapidly increasing their investments in logistics properties in China and the wider region as an e-commerce boom and a rise in demand for online food delivery and groceries bolster demand for warehouse space, according to industry players. “Capital allocation was inclined to this sector before the pandemic and they are now investing at an even faster pace with the Covid-19 crisis accelerating growth in what was already the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3094878/global-investors-plough-asian-logistics-properties-demand-online?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3094878/global-investors-plough-asian-logistics-properties-demand-online?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2020 05:00:10 +0000 Four-year-old start-up Geek+ Technology has become a rising star in China’s automation revolution, as the Beijing-based company leads the country’s push into logistics robots for the e-commerce and manufacturing sectors. Geek+, whose major customers include Alibaba Group Holding, courier company SF Express and state-owned carmaker FAW Group, has deployed more than 7,000 robots as well as completed more than 200 smart logistics projects across four continents, according to Zheng Yong, the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3031314/robotics-start-geekplus-push-expand-chinas-smart-logistics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3031314/robotics-start-geekplus-push-expand-chinas-smart-logistics?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Oct 2019 20:00:11 +0000 Towards the end of 2018, before an American tariff increase on US$200 billion of Chinese goods that was expected to take place on January 1, “floating finishing factories” started popping up off the US West Coast, on which Chinese workers would frantically assemble goods on container ships at sea to get them through customs in time to beat the increased tariffs. As it turned out, the tariff increase was postponed after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3015567/front-loading-not-option-us-firms-looking-avoid-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3015567/front-loading-not-option-us-firms-looking-avoid-trumps?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:30:04 +0000 ESR Cayman, the largest logistics landlord in Asia-Pacific backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has shrugged off the impact of the US-China trade war on the capital markets by launching Hong Kong’s biggest IPO so far this year. The company is seeking to raise up to HK$9.76 billion (US$1.24 billion) by issuing 560.7 million shares at an indicative offer price range of HK$16.2 to HK$17.4 per share. It has reserved the option of issuing an additional 15 per cent or 84.1 million shares,... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/3013267/esr-cayman-asia-pacifics-largest-warehouse-landlord-set?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/3013267/esr-cayman-asia-pacifics-largest-warehouse-landlord-set?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 12:37:36 +0000 GLP, Asia’s largest warehouse operator, has launched a US$2 billion China fund in partnership with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC as it continues to tap into the growing demand for warehousing fuelled by a boom in e-commerce and domestic consumption. “This fund provides long-term capital to further strengthen our dominant network in China,” Ming Mei, co-founder and CEO of GLP, said on Tuesday. “We continue to see significant customer demand for our integrated logistics solutions and look... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163720/warehouse-operator-glp-launches-us2b-china-logistics-fund?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163720/warehouse-operator-glp-launches-us2b-china-logistics-fund?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Sep 2018 07:45:15 +0000 Warburg Pincus, the US private equity firm that failed in the 2017 buyout of the world’s largest warehouse operator, has set its sight on China’s No 2 manager of logistics space, as it jostles to enlarge its footprint in the country’s booming e-commerce industry. The firm’s e-Shang Redwood Group unit has bought 11.6 per cent of China Logistics Property Holdings since May 7, making ESR the third-largest stakeholder in the Hong Kong-listed warehouse operator, according to stock exchange... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2149499/boardroom-spat-brewing-china-logistics-amid-jostling-foothold-e?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2149499/boardroom-spat-brewing-china-logistics-amid-jostling-foothold-e?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jun 2018 06:07:26 +0000 The booming Chinese logistics industry is also very inefficient, but this is not an issue technology cannot resolve, according to GLP, one of the world’s largest logistics solutions providers. China’s 230 trillion yuan (US$35.76 trillion) logistics industry, fraught with wastage and challenged by changing consumption patterns, must adopt cutting edge technology. Although the Chinese Academy of Sciences projected that the proportion of logistics costs to China’s gross domestic product will shrink... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2148469/how-tackle-inefficiencies-chinas-us35-trillion-logistics-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2148469/how-tackle-inefficiencies-chinas-us35-trillion-logistics-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 May 2018 10:30:45 +0000 Australia-based logistics property developer Goodman plans to build a warehouse with robots receiving, sorting and storing goods, at a site in Tuen Mun it won this month, the company said on Wednesday. “We plan to build a high-quality, modern logistics facility on the site to accommodate the latest advancements in automation and robotics rarely seen in Hong Kong,” said Kristoffer Harvey, the chief executive for Greater China at the company. “We are in active discussions with a number of our... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2147467/australian-logistics-firm-goodman-build-robotics-led-warehouse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2147467/australian-logistics-firm-goodman-build-robotics-led-warehouse?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 May 2018 00:03:48 +0000 Global Logistics Properties (GLP), the Singapore-listed logistic giant and largest operator of warehouse space in China, has reported a 34 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit in the three months to September, boosted by higher rental income and foreign exchange gains. Net profit climbed 34 per cent to US$231 million in the second quarter from a year ago, with total revenue increasing 32 per cent to US$282 million, according to the firm’s filing to Singapore Exchange on Friday. It owns 17.5... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2119298/largest-operator-warehousing-space-china-singaporean-logistics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2119298/largest-operator-warehousing-space-china-singaporean-logistics?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Nov 2017 05:53:18 +0000