The groundbreaking ceremony for the Taiyuan Mail Handling Center takes place in Taiyuan city, on Oct 17. [Photo/sxrb.com.cn]

A key project for North China's Shanxi province – the Taiyuan Mail Handling Center – broke ground in the capital Taiyuan city on Oct 17.

The new center, in Taiyuan's Xiaodian district, will have a total floor space of 168,000 square meters, with the first phase covering 81,000 sq m and starting operations in September 2021.

After completion, it will become a large-scale logistics express hub.

It will integrate domestic and international mail handling, storage, distribution and transshipments, and increase Taiyuan's mail handling capacity to over 1 million items per day from the previous 400,000 parcels and letters per day. 

The center will also have integrated e-commerce warehousing and distribution facilities, fresh cold chain warehousing and distribution functions, as well as be able to handle direct delivery of large-scale mailing and direct air mail. 

Officials said the center will help Taiyuan establish a modern logistics system network, provide specialized, customized and refined warehousing, as well as distribution and express services for various companies and clients. 

It will accelerate the integrated and coordinated development of local logistics, as well as the agricultural, rural tourism and warehousing industries. 

In addition, it will promote the transformation and upgrading of third-party logistics, create new opportunities for the development of Taiyuan's economy and attract more businesses to settle in the city.