CJ Logistics Corp., logistics arm of South Korean food and entertainment conglomerate CJ, moved to acquire Chinese warehouse operator Wuhan North Transport International Logistics Co. and open a logistics research and develop center in Shanghai to expand its presence in the Chinese logistics market amid signs of recovery in the Korea-China relationship that had frayed over Seoul’s deployment of U.S. antimissile system.

CJ Logistics said on Thursday that it took over Wuhan North Transport International Logistics through its courier service subsidiary CJ Rokin for 20 billion won ($18.3 million). The Chinese warehouse operator owns storages and lots in Wuhan, central China, and has geographical edge in servicing logistics across the mainland.

Separately on the same day, CJ Logistics opened ‘TES Innovation Center’ at CJ Rokin’s head office in Shanghai, China. TES, short for Technology, Engineering, and System & Solution is an IT tech based logistics automation system, according to CJ Logistics.

TES Innovation Center in Shanghai, the Korean firm’s second R&D hub following its first one in Gunpo, central Korea commands a floor area of 480 square meters. It is built with CJ Logistics’ indigenous logistics technologies and automated storage and retrieval systems. The company also plans to turn the center into a logistic R&D hub customized for the Chinese market.

The Korean logistics firm has been expanding aggressively in China in recent years. It took over China’s Smart Cargo, a leader in large freight transportation business in 2013, Rokin, a courier service specializing in shipping food, cosmetics, and chemical products in 2015, and established a delivery service firm CJ Speedex together with Chinese electronics giant TCL Corp. in 2016.

So far this year, CJ Logistics’ revenue from Chinese operations has jumped 30 percent from a year earlier to top 1 trillion won for the first time.

At 3:17 p.m. Friday, shares of CJ Logistics were up 1.32 percent at 154,000 won.

By Park Man-won and Cho Jeehyun

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