Alibaba Group invested in YUNDA Express. YUNDA Express ‘s 2019 financial report disclosed the news in low-key. The investment of AliExpress happened a few months ago.

This investment is significant, since the five major parcel companies in China – ZTO Express, STO Express, YUNDA Express, YTO Express and BEST Express, have all received investment from Ali. Right now, Ali hold 2% of share of YUNDA Express.

From the perspective of shareholding ratio, Ali has a small proportion of shares in those five companies. And Ali has never obtained actual control of any express companies. But this does not hinder in the in-depth cooperation in logistics between the two parties.

The logistics volume in China, the world’s second largest economy, is huge. The scale of Chinese express delivery was ranked first in the world for many years, surpassing the sum of the United States, Japan, and the European Union.

But compared with developed countries, China’s logistics cost is the biggest shortcoming. For example, the effective mileage of Chinese trucks is only about 300 kilometers per day, while that in the United States is 1,000 kilometers per day.

The driving rate of Chinese trucks，which drive with the loading space empty, is as high as 40%, which has become a main pain point for road freight. One of the reasons why trucks running without loading is that the digitization and intelligentize of vehicles, goods and drivers in China need to be optimized.

Until 2019, the ratio of China’s social logistics costs accounts for 15% of the GDP in China, which means that 15 yuan for every 100 yuan of economic activity would be paid for logistics fee. However, in Europe, America and Japan, only 8 yuan would be paid for logistics fee. The founder of AliExpress, Jack Ma, once proposed in 2016 that in China, to help reduce the cost of social logistics, the logistics industry needs to be supported with investment.

Autor: S.Y. SU