GUANGZHOU: US logistics giant BAX Global launched a wholly-owned company in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong Province, yesterday, capitalizing on a free trade pact between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong SAR.

BAX Freight Forwarding (Guangzhou) Co will enable BAX Global to better implement a two-pronged strategy to expand on the booming Chinese mainland and keep its entities here wholly owned, reported China Daily Friday.

The Guangzhou firm has become possible with the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between the mainland and Hong Kong implemented in January, which further opened up 18 of the mainland's service sectors to Hong Kong investors.

Starting in 1982, BAX Global's Hong Kong subsidiary has met all the criteria to be considered a Hong Kong company under the CEPA.

The Guangzhou firm became BAX Global's first wholly-owned entity outside free trade zones on the mainland, with the other three located in bonded zones in the cities of Shanghai, Xiamen in Fujian Province and Shenzhen in Guangdong.

The firm in Guangzhou will serve as the headquarters for the operation in southern China, with the company's business in southern China expected to grow tenfold year-on-year this year, said Michael Dan, chairman of BAX Global.

The company plans to set up an office, hopefully by December, at the new Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which was launched last week, said Andrew Jillings, BAX Global's vice-president for Northeast Asia.

A subsidiary of the New York-listed Brink's Co, a Fortune 500 company, BAX Global mainly serves the aerospace, automotive, high-technology, retail and healthcare industries in 124 countries and regions.

Meanwhile, Brink's is in talks for setting up a wholly-owned firm in Guangzhou to start domestic high-value goods logistics business on the mainland, said Dan, who is also chairman and chief executive officer of Brink's.

Brink's has been conducting imports and exports of high-value goods - which include jewellery - to and from the mainland.

(China Daily)