Chinese-founded courier J&T hops on cross-border e-commerce trend in global expansion
After expanding from Southeast Asia to China, the logistics firm has set its sights on the Middle East and South America
J&T Global Express, an international courier service founded in Indonesia in 2015 by Chinese entrepreneurs, is going back to its roots. After establishing its mainland headquarters in Shanghai’s Qingpu district in 2019, the company has moved to chip away at the dominance of entrenched local players amid the rise of cross-border e-commerce.
Jakarta-based J&T, known in China as Jitu – meaning “speedy rabbit” – was started by Jet Li Jie, who led smartphone maker Oppo’s operations in Indonesia. After experiencing Southeast Asia’s logistics challenges first hand, Li ventured out on his own. Within a few years, J&T expanded into six other countries in the region, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, before officially launching in China in 2020.
“We wanted to elevate the team’s overall competitiveness, and entering China – by far the most competitive and largest market – was a necessary step,” said Charles Hou Junyi, vice-president at J&T, in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.
Nestled in the western part of Shanghai, Qingpu district – J&T’s China base – enjoys a strategic location near the bustling Hongqiao transport hub to the east, home to a railway station and an international airport. To the west, Qingpu borders the prosperous eastern coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, which are criss-crossed by a web of highways.
That geographic advantage has attracted major Chinese logistics players. ZTO Express, STO Express, YTO Express and Yunda – collectively known as the “three TOs, one Da” – all have their headquarters in the same district, in addition to several key sorting and distribution hubs. J&T’s headquarters sits in an industrial estate just a street away from YTO and houses around 1,800 employees.
