HNA Group, GLP announce strategic alliance

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group announced on Monday in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, a new strategic alliance with Singaporean firm GLP Logistic Properties Ltd, and the two sides will together forge a global logistics ecological network.

Both sides will integrate their advantages and assets to cooperate in all areas of the logistics system, according to the announcement. They also plan to carry out further collaborations to set up a fund management platform and manage immovable assets.

Wang Jian, chairman of HNA Group, parent of the country's largest private airline, Hainan Airlines, said HNA has been laying out a global industrial chain that focuses on three core operations, including aviation and tourism, logistics, and financial services.

"The partnership with GLP will help HNA to further expand its logistics business, and strengthen its position to become a provider of high-value logistics and supply chain management," he said.

Mei Zhiming, CEO and executive director of GLP, said the partnership will help GLP to cement its layout in air logistics operations. The two companies also will cooperate in fields such as the infrastructure development of air logistics, supply chain finance, and the ecological chain of air logistics.

GLP is a major provider of logistics services for modern industrial parks in China, and it also is the earliest promoter of intelligent logistics and related industrial ecosystems in the Chinese market.

"As a diversified enterprise, logistics is one of the largest sectors at HNA Group. The collaboration with a Singaporean company will help HNA to expand its global logistics coverage," Li Xiaojin, a professor of aviation economics at Civil Aviation University in Tianjin, said.