Alibaba's Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited, one of China's courier giants, signed a cooperation agreement Tuesday with American freight transport airline Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. to enhance its logistics network.

According to the agreement, there will be three Atlas Air charter flights every week linking China with Brazil and Chile, reducing the overall shipping time from a week to three days on average.

As the cross-border trade between China and South America continues to expand, in the third quarter of 2020, Cainiao's parcel volume to South America reached over 8 million packages, doubling the number from the second quarter.

"Our partnership with Atlas Air will help us establish an efficient, reliable network to South America and other worldwide destinations by significantly reducing airfreight delivery time for the merchants we support," said William Xiong, Cainiao's chief strategist, and general manager of export logistics.

Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is expected to operate about 1,300 chartered flights by the end of 2020. The global scale of the operating networks will enable Cainiao to further enhance its logistics capabilities and offer customers faster deliveries globally.

John Dietrich, president and CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide, said he is "excited to support Cainiao and Alibaba's fast-growing e-commerce business and its global expansion in South America." Enditem