Global courier TNT will add eight new branches in China by the end of the year, as it tries to shore up market share in the country.

The eight new branches will bring its total in China to 34. The new outlets will be located in Pearl and Yangtze river delta cities Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Shunde, Nanning, Wenzhou, Kunshan and Shanghai - key manufacturing and export centers.

"The setting up of the eight new branches is in line with our long-term ambitions in the China market," Michael Drake, managing director of TNT China, said.

TNT extended its Asia road transport network in the fourth quarter last year to include China. The network was set up in 2005 and links Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Increasing trade volume between China and Southeast Asia and demand for lower freight costs as fuel prices rise has spurred development of the company's road network in the region, Drake said.

TNT's acquisition of Chinese express services provider Tiandi-Hoau last year gave the company the country's biggest private road network with 1,250 depots.

Yin Lu, an analyst with Beijing-based Analysis Points Associated Consultants Co, said the new branches, some of which are in second-tier cities, are evidence of the courier's increasing focus on the Chinese market.

"Right now, network expansion is of particular importance for major international express companies competing in the Chinese market," Yin said.

(China Daily September 25, 2008)