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July 13, 2005 2:00 PM, EDT

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edEx Express said Wednesday it plans to build a new, $150 million Asia Pacific hub at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in southern China.

FedEx said it expected the hub would to assume the current activities of its existing hub in Subic Bay, the Philippines, beginning in December 2008, at which time that facility will close.

The Guangzhou facility will have a total floor space of almost 883,000 square feet located on 155 acres. It will provide employment for 1,200 people at start-up and be capable of sorting up to 24,000 packages per hour.

“Today, with the announcement of our planned Guangzhou hub — the largest in Asia Pacific — we further invest in our leadership position by creating a new gateway that expands our customers’ access to the global marketplace,” said FedEx Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick Smith.

The company said a joint study by China's Development Research Commission and U.S. firm Campbell-Hill Aviation Group estimated that the direct output impact of a FedEx hub on China's economy would be $11 billion in 2010 and would rise to $63 billion by 2020, with the majority resulting from industrial expansion.

FedEx Corp. is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.