United Parcel Service + SF Holding
United Parcel Service
Atlanta, Georgia · 1 relationship
Active relationship
Joint Venture · 2017–present
SF Holding
Shenzhen, Guangdong · 1 relationship
Analysis
UPS and SF Holding announced their international-delivery joint venture in 2017 and received approval from China's Ministry of Commerce that September. The initial service focus was outbound parcels from China to the United States, with the companies leaving open expansion to additional trade lanes. [1]
The operating logic was network complementarity. At approval, UPS said SF had 13,000 service points across 331 Chinese cities while UPS connected more than 220 countries and territories; the joint venture combined those domestic pickup and distribution assets with UPS's international delivery network, technology and logistics expertise. [1]
SF Holding reported that the Hong Kong joint venture had been formally established and begun operating by the first half of 2018. Its stated purpose was to develop international logistics products for cross-border trade, improve efficiency through the partners' differing network strengths and broaden the choices available to Chinese exporters. [2]
UPS's 2017 annual report presented the venture as a way to improve Chinese customers' access to buyers and sellers worldwide, and its 2018 report said the arrangement combined SF's Chinese network with UPS delivery capabilities in the United States and Europe. Those disclosures show the collaboration progressing from regulatory approval to an operating channel within UPS's wider Asia-Pacific strategy. [3] [4]
Participants
Continue through either entity
Atlanta, Georgia · 1 record in this database
UPS began in Seattle in 1907 as the American Messenger Company, founded by Jim Casey and Claude Ryan. The company’s current history materials describe its early expansion from messenger work into package delivery, including the 1919 move into Oakland and adoption of the United Parcel Service name [1].
United Parcel Service, Inc. now describes itself as a global package-delivery and logistics provider serving more than 200 countries and territories. Its offerings include transportation through integrated air and ground networks, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage and insurance. In 2025, UPS says it delivered 5.2 billion packages, averaging 20.8 million per day, and recorded $88.7 billion in revenue [2].
The company’s investor-relations profile lists approximately 460,000 employees and identifies its principal office at 55 Glenlake Parkway in Atlanta, Georgia. It frames the operating strategy as Customer First, People Led and Innovation Driven, with emphasis on integrated logistics solutions and customers in healthcare, business-to-business, small and medium-sized businesses and international markets [3].
Shenzhen, Guangdong · 1 record in this database
SF Holding is the listed parent behind the SF logistics business. SF’s current corporate profile says the group was established in Shunde, Guangdong, in 1993 and is headquartered in Shenzhen; it trades as SZSE 002352 and HKEX 6936. The profile also records a 2017 restructuring, renaming and A-share listing, followed after 2024 by a main-board Hong Kong listing that made SF the first A+H-share company in China’s express and logistics industry. [1]
The business is broader than time-sensitive parcels. SF describes eight logistics segments: time-definite express, economy express, freight, cold-chain and pharmaceutical logistics, intra-city on-demand delivery, and supply-chain and international businesses that include international express, cargo and freight forwarding. Its operating model is supported by an integrated aviation, ground and information network, and the company says it uses technology to build end-to-end digital supply-chain services. [1] [3]
SF’s 2025 interim report gives a current scale marker: for the six months ended June 30, 2025, revenue was RMB146.858 billion, gross profit RMB19.061 billion and profit for the period RMB6.012 billion. The report’s figures are consolidated and therefore describe the holding group rather than only the SF Express parcel brand. SF’s 2024 annual report also says the company ranked first in China’s public express-delivery satisfaction survey for 15 consecutive years through 2023 and in the first three quarters of 2024, a company-reported service-quality indicator rather than a claim about every product line. [2] [3]