CHINESE supermarket retail chain operator Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Company Limited announced plans to invest over CNY800 million to build a large modern logistics system in Jiading, Shanghai.

With a storage area of over 200,000 square meters, the new base will integrate functions like product procurement, storage, sorting, cargo handling, processing, distribution, information processing, and financial settlement. Products handled in the logistics base will include food, commodities, and home appliances.

This new base will mainly serve the Yangtze River Delta region. Apart from supermarkets, convenience stores, and Internet sites of Lianhua group, it will also offer services to manufacturers, agencies, wholesale traders and other retailers who have demands for distribution services.

According to Hua Guoping, general manager of Lianhua, the logistics base is expected to put into operation in 2014 and its functional positioning is a combination of product supply chain and logistics service chain. It will not only become a product distribution center, but also will serve as a comprehensive service platform for trading, logistics, and information. For operation and management, it will adopt barcode and radio frequency technologies and apply modernized transporting equipment and high-speed automated sorting technology.