Workers at the Centralized Procurement and Trade Center for Logistics Equipment and Materials in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province [Photo/ zj.zjol.com.cn]

China's first Centralized Procurement and Trade Center for Logistics Equipment and Materials was launched in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, May 6.

The center will help to build a bridge between mail companies and suppliers of equipment and materials to exchange information and negotiate trade.

On May 6, Chinese delivery leaders SF Express, STO, YTO, ZTO and Yunda signed deals with the procurement center, agreeing to gradually turn their procurement of vehicles, equipment, clothing and office supplies over to the procurement center.

The five mail companies pledged to procure 11.5 billion yuan ($1.62 billion) worth of supplies in 2020. By May 6, around 100 companies had agreed to join the center.

According to workers at the new center, Tonglu aims to develop it into "the Alibaba of China's delivery industry".

Tonglu has always had a strong delivery industry. The county is the hometown of the founders of China's four delivery giants – STO, YTO, ZTO and Yunda – which, added together, occupy nearly 60 percent of the market in China's mail industry.

The government of Tonglu has made consistent efforts to turn the county from "the hometown of delivery men" to "the hometown of the mail industry".

In April, Tonglu issued guidelines for introducing delivery companies, with the aim of developing the county into a hub of China's delivery industry.

So far, Tonglu has introduced 118 delivery-related companies, attracting investment of more than 30 billion yuan ($4.24 billion). In 2019, the county's delivery industry generated 14.4 billion yuan in output value, bringing 600 million yuan in tax revenue.

As the county's delivery industry grows stronger, the county government and the four delivery companies launched the new procurement center in late 2019.

Top executives from China's delivery giants ­– SF Express, STO, YTO, ZTO and Yunda ­­– unveil the Centralized Procurement and Trade Center for Logistics Equipment and Materials in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, May 6. [Photo/ zj.zjol.com.cn]