[Sponsored Report] CJ Korea Express aims to increase global reach

A line of delivery vehicles at Rokin Logistics. CJ Korea Express acquired the privately owned Chinese company in September 2015 in a bid to expand its business on the mainland. [CJ KOREA EXPRESS]

CJ Korea Express is strengthening its international distribution channels in order to become one of the top five logistics companies in the world by 2020.

With 78 distribution centers in 22 countries including the United States, China and Japan, the company aims to achieve this goal through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as strategic alliances.

Last year, it took over the privately owned Rokin Logistics of China. Rokin operates 48 terminals, 22 distribution centers, a shipping lane connecting 1,500 cities, and 1,800 vehicles for frozen food and chemical distribution throughout China.

Since expanding its business to China, CJ Korea Express has provided comprehensive logistics services to Chinese customers. Through its M&A deal with Rokin, the company expects to benefit from synergy with CJ CheilJedang and CJ Freshway, two other CJ Group subsidiaries that have tapped into the Chinese market. Last year, CJ Freshway signed a contract with Yonghui Superstores, a Fuzhou-based supermarket operator, to set up two joint ventures in China.

After signing a memorandum of understanding last year with the northeastern Chinese city of Hunchun, CJ Korea Express is currently looking to construct a state-of-the-art distribution center in Shanghai.

The Kospi-200 company is also looking to expand its business in Southeast Asia. In 2015, it formed a joint venture with Myanmar’s state-run Road Transport Administration Department. The company plans to soon launch an international delivery service and quadruple the number of delivery vehicles it operates in the country.

CJ Korea Express also makes deliveries and runs distribution centers in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia.

The company’s ambitions for global expansion were evident in its 2015 partnership with JDA Software, an American supply chain and retail solutions provider. Under the terms of the alliance, the two companies will work together to provide consulting services to clients in Korea’s manufacturing, distribution, transportation and retail industries.

BY PARK HYE-MI [park.hyemi@joongang.co.kr]