SF Express
A major Chinese express-delivery and integrated logistics group serving domestic and international customers.
Last updated November 2, 2026
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Overview
SF Express is the principal logistics brand of SF Holding, a Chinese multinational delivery and supply-chain group headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. The business began in 1993 when founder Wang Wei established a small courier operation connecting Hong Kong with Guangdong. Its original purpose was to help manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta move commercial samples and documents to Hong Kong buyers more quickly than conventional shipping channels allowed. From that regional base, SF developed into one of China’s largest express-delivery companies and expanded its scope well beyond parcel transportation. The company’s service portfolio includes domestic time-definite express, standard parcel delivery, freight and less-than-truckload services, international express, cold-chain logistics, pharmaceutical logistics, intra-city delivery, warehousing, and broader supply-chain management. Its positioning has traditionally emphasized reliability, service quality, speed, and network control, giving the brand a relatively premium profile within China’s highly competitive courier sector. SF also operates technology-enabled customer and collection infrastructure, including self-service parcel lockers and community-oriented retail points. Air transport is an important part of the group’s logistics model. SF Airlines, the group’s cargo-airline subsidiary, operates a dedicated freighter fleet and supports time-sensitive domestic and international shipments. The company has also invested in aviation infrastructure, including a major partnership connected with Ezhou Huahu cargo airport in Hubei. The airport’s central location provides relatively efficient access to major population and manufacturing centers, including Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, and is intended to strengthen the company’s hub-and-spoke distribution capabilities. SF’s expansion has also included ground freight, rail freight, cross-border services, and specialized logistics. In 2023, the company and China Railway Express introduced a dedicated high-speed rail freight service, adding another mode to the group’s transportation network. In Hong Kong, SF has built a substantial self-service locker presence, while in mainland China it has experimented with community storefronts under the Heike name. The company has additionally participated in military-civilian logistics cooperation and drone-related resupply activities, areas that distinguish it from a purely consumer parcel-delivery operator. SF Holding became publicly traded in Shenzhen in 2017 through a reverse-listing transaction involving Maanshan Dintai Rare Earth & New Materials Co. The holding company has also traded in Hong Kong and has been included in the SZSE 100 Index. Although the SF Express brand remains strongly associated with domestic courier delivery, the wider group increasingly presents itself as an integrated logistics platform combining transportation assets, digital systems, warehousing, specialized services, and supply-chain solutions. The brand is active and primarily serves China while maintaining international delivery and logistics operations.
History
SF Express emerged from the commercial relationship between manufacturing centers in Guangdong and buyers in Hong Kong. During the early 1990s, factories in the Shunde area needed to send product samples and business documents across the border, but existing shipping arrangements could be slow and unreliable. In 1993, Wang Wei founded ShunFeng Express with a small team of six employees. The initial service linked Hong Kong and Guangdong and was designed around faster, more responsive courier transportation. The company subsequently expanded across mainland China and developed a broader domestic express network. Its growth reflected the rapid development of Chinese manufacturing, private commerce, and later e-commerce, all of which increased demand for dependable parcel and document delivery. SF built a reputation around service consistency and speed while gradually adding freight, warehousing, specialized transport, and supply-chain capabilities. Rather than remaining only a local courier, it evolved into a multidivisional logistics group. One element of the expansion was the development of community-based service points under the Heike name. SF opened at least 500 such stores across most Chinese provinces, although the cited account excluded Tibet and Qinghai from that footprint. The concept combined parcel collection and delivery with online-shopping-related services. The group also invested in self-service locker infrastructure; by October 2020, it operated one of the largest networks of such lockers in Hong Kong, with 939 kiosks reported in the reference material. SF’s operating model increasingly incorporated aviation. SF Airlines provided dedicated cargo capacity and enabled the group to control a larger portion of the transportation chain for urgent and time-sensitive shipments. The company also entered military-civilian logistics cooperation agreements beginning in 2016. In 2018, it undertook drone airdrop resupply operations for the PLA’s Southern Theater Command. These activities broadened the company’s logistics capabilities but also placed its business in a strategically sensitive area beyond conventional consumer delivery. A major corporate turning point occurred in 2017, when SF Express began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange through a reverse-listing structure. The transaction involved an asset swap with Maanshan Dintai Rare Earth & New Materials Co. SF Express was added to the SZSE 100 Index with effect from its first trading day. The wider parent group, SF Holding, later also traded in Hong Kong, giving the business access to more than one public equity market. In 2021, SF Express made a significant investment in cooperation with Hubei province to develop Ezhou Huahu cargo airport. Ezhou’s central position in China, its proximity to Wuhan, and its connections with major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou made the project strategically relevant to express air freight. The airport opened in 2022 and was renamed Ezhou Huahu International Airport in May 2025. The project supports SF’s ambition to operate an integrated air-ground logistics system rather than rely solely on third-party transport capacity. The company continued to diversify its transport modes in 2023, when it partnered with China Railway Express to launch a dedicated high-speed rail freight line. This initiative strengthened the ground segment of the network and complemented road, aviation, warehousing, and specialized logistics services. Today, SF Express remains the group’s best-known operating brand, while SF Holding provides the corporate structure for domestic express, international delivery, freight, cold chain, pharmaceutical logistics, intra-city services, and supply-chain solutions.
- 2025
Ezhou Huahu airport is renamed
[1]The cargo hub is renamed Ezhou Huahu International Airport.
- 2023
High-speed rail freight service launches
[1]SF Express and China Railway Express introduce a dedicated high-speed rail freight line.
- 2022
Ezhou Huahu cargo airport opens
[1]The cargo-focused airport begins operations and becomes an important component of SF’s air-freight strategy.
- 2021
Investment in Ezhou Huahu cargo airport
[1]SF Express partners with Hubei province on development of a central China cargo-airport project.
- 2020
Hong Kong locker network reaches 939 kiosks
[1]The company is reported to operate 939 self-service parcel lockers in Hong Kong.
- 2018
Drone resupply operations are introduced
[1]SF Express uses drones for airdrop resupply operations associated with the PLA’s Southern Theater Command.
- 2017
SF Express enters the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
[1]The company begins public trading through a reverse-listing transaction involving Maanshan Dintai Rare Earth & New Materials Co.
- 2016
Military-civilian logistics cooperation begins
[1]SF Express undertakes military-civilian fusion agreements involving China’s military logistics authorities.
- 2014
Heike community-store expansion is planned
[1]SF Express is reported to have opened at least 500 Heike stores and to have planned a much larger nationwide network.
- 1993
SF Express is founded
[1]Wang Wei establishes ShunFeng Express with six employees to provide faster courier services between Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Products and positioning
A premium-oriented, technology-enabled integrated logistics provider with strong domestic express, air-cargo, and specialized logistics capabilities.
Express delivery · 1993
Domestic Express
SF Express’s core domestic parcel and document-delivery business connects customers across mainland China. The service portfolio includes standard and time-definite options, supported by the company’s integrated pickup, sorting, transportation, and delivery network. It is positioned around reliability, coverage, and comparatively strong handling of urgent commercial shipments.
Air cargo logistics
SF Airlines
SF Airlines is the group’s dedicated cargo-airline subsidiary. Its freighter operations provide internal air capacity for time-sensitive express and freight shipments and support the wider hub-and-spoke network. Air transport is particularly important for long-distance domestic delivery and international logistics.
Specialized logistics
SF Cold Chain
The cold-chain business provides temperature-sensitive transportation and related logistics services for food, healthcare, and other products requiring controlled conditions. It forms part of SF’s strategy to serve specialized commercial supply chains rather than only general parcels.
International express
SF International
SF International extends the company’s delivery and logistics capabilities beyond mainland China. Services include cross-border express and broader international logistics support, serving trade flows connected to Chinese manufacturing, commerce, and consumers.
Community logistics and retail · 2014
Heike
Heike was an SF community-store concept combining online-shopping-related services with parcel collection and delivery. SF reportedly opened at least 500 stores across most Chinese provinces and considered a substantially larger national rollout, although the referenced account excluded Tibet and Qinghai from the reported coverage.
Parcel collection
SF Locker Network
SF’s self-service locker network provides an alternative collection and delivery channel for customers. The company had a particularly large presence in Hong Kong, where 939 kiosks were reported by October 2020.
Controversies
2021
SF Express Responds to Criticism of Paid Delivery-Confirmation Service
In 2021, Zhejiang's consumer protection committee questioned SF Express's 1-yuan delivery-confirmation add-on service, stating that it might infringe on consumer rights and mislead consumers. In response, SF Express representatives said that choosing the service does not affect normal delivery and that it is generally selected only when the sender has special requirements. The company's statement addressed the committee's concerns by clarifying the optional nature of the service and its limited use.
2018
Online sale of data raises leak concerns; company denies data came from SF Express systems
In 2018, reports appeared online of the sale of so-called 300 million pieces of SF Express logistics information. After checking test data, SF Express responded that the relevant data did not come from its systems, pointing to suspicious elements and motives. This entry records a data security controversy and a denial response and does not treat the number claimed online as a confirmed leak.
Brand decisions
2023
Dedicated high-speed rail freight lineProduct launchBackground
SF Express was expanding beyond road and air transport and sought additional capacity and route flexibility for its ground network.
Action taken
SF Express partnered with China Railway Express to launch a dedicated high-speed rail freight service.
Aftermath
The service strengthened SF’s multimodal transportation offering and added rail capacity to its domestic logistics system.
2021
Investment in Ezhou Huahu cargo airportStrategyBackground
SF Express required strategically located aviation infrastructure to support the growing scale and time sensitivity of its express and freight network.
Action taken
The company partnered with Hubei province and made a significant investment in the development of the Ezhou Huahu cargo-focused airport.
Aftermath
The airport opened in 2022 and became a central element of SF’s air-cargo strategy in central China.
2017
Reverse-listing transaction on the Shenzhen Stock ExchangeM&ABackground
SF Express sought a public-market listing through an asset-swap structure involving Maanshan Dintai Rare Earth & New Materials Co.
Action taken
The transaction enabled SF Express to begin trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and placed the operating business within the listed structure.
Aftermath
SF Express became a constituent of the SZSE 100 Index with effect from its first trading day. SF Holding also later traded in Hong Kong.
Recent events
Reported
SF responds to criticism of its paid delivery-confirmation service[4]
After Zhejiang's consumer protection committee questioned SF's 1-yuan delivery-confirmation add-on and said it might infringe consumer rights and mislead consumers, SF representatives said choosing the service does not affect normal delivery and that it is generally selected only when the sender has special requirements.
- Unconfirmed
SF Holding proposes acquisition of 51.8% of Kerry Logistics[5]
SF Holding announced a proposed all-cash acquisition of 51.8% of Kerry Logistics' issued share capital for HK$17.555 billion. The transaction was still subject to regulatory approvals, and Kerry Logistics would remain listed if it completed.
Reported
Huinongwang and SF Express sign strategic partnership[6]
Huinongwang and SF Express signed a strategic partnership covering agricultural-product distribution, logistics demonstration sites, and a county-, township-, and village-level logistics system.
- Unconfirmed
Reported
SF Express opens Shenzhen–New Delhi air freight route[7]
SF Express opened a second direct air freight route to India, connecting Shenzhen and New Delhi, following its Shenzhen–Chennai route. The service is operated by SF Airlines.
Reported
Beijing Telecom signs 5G cooperation projects with 11 organizations[8]
China Telecom Beijing Company signed and jointly released 5G cooperation projects with 11 organizations, including SF Express, Xiaomi and Beijing Benz. The projects cover areas including smart campuses, autonomous driving, meetings and smart offices.
Sources11 sources
- 1SF Express - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- 2SF Express official websitesf-express.com
- 3Online sale of data raises leak concerns; company denies data came from SF Express systemsbbtnews.com.cn
- 4SF Express Responds to Criticism of Paid Delivery-Confirmation Servicenews.hangzhou.com.cn
- 5顺丰控股拟收购嘉里物流51.8%股权hkcd.com
- 6惠农网与顺丰速运签署战略合作finance.sina.com.cn
- 7顺丰开通深圳至新德里空运航线business-standard.com
- 8北京电信与11家企业共同发布5G合作项目tech.sina.com.cn
- 9光大证券：顺丰控股(002352.SZ)增发夯实业务基础，收购嘉里物流扩展国际网络，维持“买入”评级_行业资讯_行业_中金在线hy.stock.cnfol.com
- 10顺丰将收购马国首富旗下的嘉里物流控股权zaobao.com.sg
- 11順豐(002352-CN)擬斥175億港元收購嘉里物流(00636-HK)51.8%股權finet.hk
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