FedEx has cut its express service prices by 70 per cent in a bid to win bigger market share in China, Xinhua reported. According to the story, FedEx China cut its prices four times between October 2007 and August 2008 to bring them into line with those set by domestic private express firms.

Statistics from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed that FedEx's market share increased to 4.8 per cent at the end of September from 0.8 per cent at the end of June, putting it ahead of its major overseas competitors, UPS, DHL and TNT.

The US-based FedEx entered China in the 1990s and it now has operations in more than 220 Chinese cities.

Meanwhile, DHL Express Worldwide said it would centralise some mainland Chinese operations in an effort to improve efficiency, South China Morning Post reported. However, the company denied an earlier media report that it would move some operations from first-tier cities to Chengdu so as to reduce labour costs. It has a total of 82 branches across the mainland.

For its part, TNT’s wholly-owned China operation TNT-Hoau has launched its first domestic day-definite road distribution service in the country. The service will first be offered between 115 depot pairs covering the key economic areas of the Yangtze River Delta, Bohai Economic Rim and the Pearl River Delta regions. Coverage will be increased to more than 260 depot pairs by July 2009. All shipments will be bar-coded to allow customers to ‘track and trace’ their shipments via the internet.