The capital of south China's Guangdong Province is set to build two information and transport logistics platforms by 2010, a leading official from the local development and planning committee said.

Li Xiaochong, director of the committee, revealed that, along with the two platforms, three international interchanged logistics parks and a number of regional professional and all-round logistics centers will be also established in the city by that time.

The moves aim to accelerate local logistics development and enhance co-operation with overseas partners, Li said.

As one of the China's three largest ports, Guangzhou saw its ports' handling capacity reach 191.2 million tons last year, a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent.

There are also around 100 logistics enterprises, some of which are able to supply a third party logistics service to customers.

Guangdong's logistics sector remains in its initial stage of development, despite some achievements in recent years.

Li said the city continues to witness a shortage of well-trained workers and specialists in its logistics sector.

As a result, the city is intensifying its efforts to establish a number of logistics parks, in a bid to become the center of this sector in South China.

Li said the local government has already drawn up detailed regulations for land use, electricity, staff training and fund raising for logistics development.

One of the three logistics parks will be sited in Nansha in the southeastern Guangzhou.

"As it is close to five international airports in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macao, and has other geographical and infrastructural priorities, Nansha has great potential to become the city's largest logistics park," said Li.

The park will focus on developing its bonded factories, trading service and material allocations in the logistics industry in the next few years.

The city's newly built Baiyun International Airport will be operational in June this year.

Zeng De, president of Sinotrans Guangdong Corporation, said his company will build three logistics centers in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhongshan starting from this year.

The three centers, with an area of 80,000, 150,000 and 200,000 square meters respectively, will provide comprehensive logistics services for customers both in the province and beyond.

(China Daily March 13, 2004)