Well-known enterprises gather in Huadu to draw together a new blueprint for an international freight hub! From November 19th to 20th, the 2024 IATA North Asia Cargo Day was held in conjunction with the Conference on High-quality Development of Guangzhou International Air Cargo Hub in Huadu District, Guangzhou. Under the theme of "A Chinese hub that connects the World", the Conference brought together industry heavy players, experts, and scholars to discuss the new trend of air cargo development, in order to help Guangzhou build a world-class air cargo hub and become a center of global production and supply chain.

The Conference was co-hosted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) North Asia Regional Office, Guangdong Airport Authority, and China Southern Airlines, organized by Guangdong Airport Group Logistics Co., Ltd and China Southern Airlines Logistics Co., Ltd., and supported by the People's Government of Huadu District. A number of internationally renowned airlines, including FedEx, Ethiopian Airlines, and Turkish Airlines, and domestic airline giants such as Air China Cargo, China Eastern Airlines Logistics Co., Ltd., and HNA Cargo Co., Ltd, attended the Conference.

Learn firsthand about Huadu's development plan and industrial layout

Discuss in-depth the development prospects of "super freight hub".

The event saw the visiting team's arrival at the city exhibition hall of Huadu District to gain an in-depth understanding of the District's urban development plan and its industrial layout concept of "one district, one city, one port and one bay". The on-site visit gave the participants a deeper understanding of how Huadu District plays to its advantages to promote the development of the air cargo industry.

It is reported that Huadu made full use of the air-rail integration development demonstration area located between Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Guangzhou North Railway Station, concentrated on building bigger and stronger such key areas as the urban CBD, the business district of Guangzhou North Railway Station, and the Huadu Lake, and mainly focused on the development of modern service industries such as headquarters, design, marketing, green finance, leisure tourism, and duty-free sales. At the same time, the airport-based digital smart port was relied on to mainly develop airport related industries, including high-tech manufacturing, air freight, biomedicine, and electronic information.

See the bigger picture, seize the opportunities, and take the highroad. In the keynote speech session, centering around such topics as the high-quality development of Guangzhou's cargo hub, the development status of regional air cargo hubs, how Guangzhou could build a global supply chain hub city, and the efficient operation of air cargo hubs from the perspective of air traffic control, participants of the Conference had in depth discussion and provide suggestions and counsels for Guangzhou to further build a comprehensive gateway type international aviation hub.

In addition, the representatives of the members of Guangzhou Air Cargo Community had a dialogue around the concept of "Super Cargo Hub", which focused on the future development of the air cargo industry, and put forward many valuable opinions and suggestions.

According to industry insiders, the current global air cargo demand is on the rise, and with the rapid development of e-commerce, the growth rate of express air cargo will exceed the industry average. As reduction of logistics costs is an important means to promote the construction of air cargo hub, it is essential to reduce the total social logistics costs through nearby transportation and other means, thereby to promote the construction of an international logistics center with "high efficiency, low cost and high competitiveness" in Guangzhou.

During the Conference, a number of experts, authorities and senior practitioners in the field of air cargo had a series of themed lectures for and roundtable discussions with the participants, sharing their insight on such important topics as sustainable development of air cargo, the road to future for cross-border e-commerce and air cargo, and freight innovation and technology; and contributing their wisdom to the achievement of the goal of "transport local goods to the world and Global goods to Guangzhou".

Major strategic cooperation being pushed forward

Huadu's aviation industry on expansion and development

The Conference witnessed three major events of great significance, the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement between Guangdong Airport Group and the co-construction units of the hub, the launch of the cargo apron transfer section of Baiyun Airport, and the groundbreaking of the FedEx South China Operation Center, which are closely related to the development strategy of Huadu, and will further expand the cooperation between air cargo operators, comprehensively improve the operation efficiency of the airport, and speed up the construction of major airport logistics projects.

It is worth mentioning that the Guangzhou Branch of China Post Group Corporation, Huadu District People's Government and Guangdong Airport Group Logistics Co., Ltd. signed a contract for the cooperation project of China Post (Guangzhou) low-altitude logistics; the three parties will jointly build a low-altitude logistics network, research and develop low-altitude logistics technology, build infrastructure, promote green logistics initiatives, to jointly help the high-quality development of low-altitude logistics economy in Huadu District.

As home to Baiyun International Airport, Huadu is committed to promoting the continuous upgrading from "transportation hub" to "economic hub" and "open hub", and making every effort to build an international comprehensive transportation hub and gateway. Huadu is endowed with abundant and quality resources of air, railway, waterway, and land transportation. As the center point to which more than 400 air routes, 21 rail transits and 19 high-speed roads converge, a world-class comprehensive transportation hub with an annual air-rail passenger flow of 190 million and an annual air cargo and mail throughput of 6 million tons is gradually taking shape in Huadu.

Huadu District took the lead in the city to introduce the first District-level air cargo support policy, and now it has attracted about 210 enterprises, including Baiyun International Logistics, Airport Group Logistics, JD.com Asia No. 1, Yuhu International Cold Chain, COSCO Shipping, and FedEx, registered 11 airlines, gathered more than 10 headquarters of the airline companies or regional branches, and witnessed the settling down of such leading enterprises as GAMECO, ST Aerospace and Meihua Aviation. An aviation industry system supported by air cargo transportation, aviation maintenance services, airport-based manufacturing and aviation regional headquarters has been initially formed.

Gather industries with the hub and strengthen the hub with industries. Huadu is planning to build a high-standard airport-based digital smart port with a total area of 80 square kilometers around the airport, into which a "4+4" airport-based industrial cluster will be actively introduced. It is expected to form a 300 billion yuan-level airport-based industry by 2035, and strive to build a global hub economic innovation model led by "big transportation, big logistics, big smart manufacturing, and big business travel".

Huadu is now actively seizing the opportunity coming with the third phase expansion of Baiyun International Airport to focus on promoting air-rail intermodal transport, and plan the building of a high-speed railway express base at Guangzhou North Station, which in combination with the favorable development of Huadu Economic and Technological Development Zone being upgraded to a national one, will surely provide unlimited opportunities and infinite possibilities for all walks of life, the air cargo industry included.

This Conference has deepened the mutual understanding and cooperation between enterprises in the industry, and provided new impetus for elevating air cargo industry of Guangzhou and even the entire country to a higher level. The presence at the Conference of the leaders of the Guangdong Airport Group, representatives of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), principal officials of relevant government agencies of Huadu District, and executives of air cargo industry enterprises demonstrates the great attention and importance attached to the Conference by all parties. This event is also a comprehensive display of the development of the air cargo industry in Huadu District, and moreover, a vision of the beautiful prospect of future cooperation and development.

Term explained: "4+4" airport-based industrial cluster

The "4+4" airport-based industry cluster refers to the combination of a cluster of four airport-based advanced manufacturing industries of new-generation information technology, intelligent equipment, life and health, and photovoltaic energy storage, and a cluster of four airport-based modern service industries of trade fair and exhibition, cultural tourism consumption, aviation science and technology services, and airport-based logistics.