New Asia-Europe Service Solves South China Challenge

July 28, 2004 - The global focus on Asia as sourcing and manufacturing center shows no sign of slowing. Today, Asian exports represent around 20 per cent of the world total - up from 15 per cent a decade ago, according to Singapore's Business Times.

Europe is among the leading destinations for the region's products. Unsurprisingly, China is the number-one Asian exporter to Europe. But it also has a growing demand for European imports - mainly raw materials to fuel manufacturing hotbeds such as the Pearl River Delta (PRD). This economically dynamic region in South China contributes around 7 per cent of China's GDP yet it covers only 0.4 per cent of its land area and is home to just 3.2 per cent of the country's 1.3 billion population, according to The China Business Review.

Two-way trade between South China and Europe has rapidly expanded and APL's ships have been full on this trade for some time. In fact, our customers repeatedly told us they needed more space and connections.

Our answer was to launch the South China Europe Express (SCX) (PDF File) in mid July. Rather than launching an individual service, the SCX is run in collaboration with our New World Alliance partners and other carriers who are already in the trade. This has allowed APL to meet customers' needs from day one.

The SCX offers a gateway to the PRD via the fast-growing port of Chiwan, which compliments APL's calls at the neighboring port of Yantian. Chiwan offers customers considerable advantages, including: priority berthing, lower customs clearance and trucking fees, fast connectivity to APL's intra-Asia, Trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe services, and it is also closer to the western PRD.

Moreover, the SCX complements our existing services such as the Asia Europe Express (AEX), Japan Europe Express (JEX) and China Europe Express (CEX), which provide benchmark transit times and world-class connectivity between destinations in North Asia - including China - and Europe's major markets.

The SCX offers customers more than South China-Europe connectivity. It also provides much-improved access to key sourcing and manufacturing destinations in South East Asia and the fast-growing Indian Sub-continent via the Middle East port of Salalah.

The SCX illustrates the success of APL's collaborative approach to doing business. By communicating with customers and other partners we were able to devise and quickly implement a practical and value-adding solution to help customers move their businesses forward in one of the world's fastest-growing trade.