DHL, Deutsche Post's delivery arm, said yesterday it is looking for a local partner to expand its express business on the mainland. The company is also planning to establish 400 express routes there.

"The company is looking for significant opportunity in express services business in Asia Pacific," said Jerry Hsu, president of DHL Greater China.

The global express and logistics giant, which rivals with UPS, Fedex from the US and TNT in the Netherlands, said it has currently 73 city routes for its express services business on the mainland. But, the company is planning to have 400 city routes, each of which links two mainland cities or a mainland and overseas city, Hsu added.

DHL is also open to any acquisition opportunity on the mainland.

"We will study the possibility to merge with the market player or competitor," Hsu said.

The firm also plans to complete its North Asia Hub (NAH) in Shanghai in 2010 to cope with the surging demand in the Asia Pacific. The plan followed its completion of the expansion of its Central Asia Hub (CAH) in Hong Kong.

The CAH, with a total investment of $210 million, will boost DHL's operational capability in Asia by doubling its size to 35,000 sq m. It is expected to handle 40 million shipments this year.

"Ours is a story of growth," Daniel McHugh, CEO of DHL, said. "The company has a 17 percent annual growth in the Asia-Pacific region," he added.

DHL enhances its capability in CAH to handle goods before the NAH in Shanghai is completed.

"The CAH coupled with a robust air network is a core pillar of our highly efficient operational backbone in the Asia Pacific," said McHugh. "But we invest to stay ahead of the curve. With CAH fully operational, we look forward to taking our network capability up another notch when our NAH at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, is completed in 2010."

"The NAH in Pudong will complement the CAH in Hong Kong and deliver further operational efficiencies by leveraging its geographical proximity for shipments destined for the region," said the statement.