An SF Holding(顺丰控股) visit in Shenzhen takes a delegation inside the group behind SF Express, the express network that moves China. SF Holding was founded in 1993, is headquartered in Shenzhen, and has been listed in Shenzhen under 002352 since 2017 and in Hong Kong since 2024. In 2025 it handled 16.7 billion parcels, up 25.4 per cent, and revenue passed 300 billion yuan for the first time, at 308.23 billion yuan.
The reason to go in 2026 is scale that is hard to grasp any other way. The company serves more than 800 million individual customers and 2.35 million business customers, covers every city in China, reaches 95 countries and regions with international express, freight and supply chain services, and touches 200 countries and regions with its international small parcel service. It operates the largest freighter fleet in Asia and co-owns and operates Asia's largest dedicated air cargo hub. Delegations usually come for the automation and leave thinking about the network.
The second reason is that the business has changed shape. SF Express is no longer an express company that also does other things: it is a supply chain company with an express business inside it, and in the fourth quarter of 2025 it created a group-level supply chain business group focused on seven industries including high technology, automotive and life sciences. For a delegation, that is the interesting question — what an express network becomes when it grows up.
China Innovation Visits coordinates the Shenzhen programme, including the company reception, scheduling, local transport and English interpretation.
Key takeaways
- See how 16.7 billion parcels a year are actually sorted, moved and delivered.
- Understand the air network: Asia's largest freighter fleet and the Ezhou air cargo hub, with 59 domestic and 22 international cargo routes.
- Look at the international build-out — 95 countries and regions, 200 countries reachable by small parcel, and 2.55 million square metres of overseas warehouse space.
- Examine the automation layer: nearly 3,000 unmanned delivery vehicles in operation, and a logistics domain large model.
- Discuss the shift from scale growth to value growth, and what creating a supply chain business group changes.
- Compare with a Fengyi drone logistics overview on the aerial side of Chinese delivery, or a JD Robotics visit on warehouse automation.
Why visit SF Holding in Shenzhen?
Logistics is the industry where Chinese operational capability is most visible and least studied. The technology is not a single product but a system — aircraft, hubs, sorting equipment, software, couriers and vehicles coordinated at national scale — and the only way to understand it is to stand inside it. SF is the most advanced version of that system in China, and by revenue the largest.
It is also the clearest case of a Chinese service company internationalising. Most Chinese logistics companies grew by serving Chinese exports. SF is building the other direction too: overseas warehouses in 37 countries and regions, international routes, and supply chain contracts won in markets where it is a new name. For a delegation from a market where SF is unknown, that is the part worth probing.
Shenzhen is the right setting. The company's headquarters is in Nanshan district, and the Pearl River delta around it is the densest manufacturing and cross-border logistics region in the world. Delegations interested in last-mile and on-demand delivery often pair it with a Meituan visit on the instant delivery side.
Company background
1993 to a 300 billion yuan network
The company began in Guangdong in 1993, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2017, and listed in Hong Kong in 2024. Ezhou Huahu Airport, the air cargo hub it participated in building and now operates, opened in 2022 as Asia's first dedicated air cargo hub.
Scale in 2025: revenue of 308.23 billion yuan, profit attributable to shareholders of 11.12 billion yuan, and 16.7 billion parcels handled.
What the business is now
Revenue splits into domestic express and logistics at 228.56 billion yuan, up 11.1 per cent, and supply chain and international at 72.94 billion yuan, up 3.5 per cent. The second figure needs a footnote: it includes KLN, the international freight forwarding subsidiary, where sea freight rates fell. Excluding KLN, the core cross-border supply chain business grew 32.3 per cent.
Frost & Sullivan ranks the company as the largest integrated logistics service provider in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.
The 2025 numbers
Volume, revenue and profit
Parcel volume was 16.7 billion pieces, up 25.4 per cent, significantly faster than the industry as a whole. Revenue was 308.23 billion yuan, up 8.4 per cent, crossing 300 billion yuan for the first time. Profit attributable to shareholders was 11.12 billion yuan, up 9.3 per cent, with net margin attributable to shareholders steady at 3.6 per cent.
Basic earnings per share were 2.23 yuan, up 5.7 per cent, and weighted return on equity was 11.5 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points.
The company describes 2025 as the year it moved from scale-driven to value-driven growth. In the second half it adjusted its commercial approach towards higher-value business and tighter cost control, and profit after removing non-recurring items rose 11.6 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with the third.
Cash and shareholder returns
Operating cash flow was about 27.6 billion yuan, and after about 9.6 billion yuan of asset investment, free cash flow was close to 17.9 billion yuan.
That cash is being returned. Cash dividends for 2025 were about 4.46 billion yuan and share buybacks 1.64 billion yuan, a combined 6.1 billion yuan, about 55 per cent of profit attributable to shareholders. The company raised the ceiling on its A-share buyback programme to 6 billion yuan with the shares to be cancelled, and started a 500 million Hong Kong dollar H-share buyback.
The air network: Ezhou
The air operation is the part of SF that competitors cannot copy quickly. The company operates the largest freighter fleet in Asia, and it participated in building and now operates Ezhou cargo hub, Asia's largest dedicated air cargo hub, which opened in 2022.
By December 2025 the company had opened 59 domestic cargo routes and 22 international cargo routes, and its freighters made more than 30,000 take-offs and landings at Ezhou during the year, up 11 per cent.
Why this matters commercially: dedicated freighters and landing slots are scarce, regulated and slow to acquire, and they are what allows a guarantee of next-morning delivery across a country the size of China. For a delegation, the useful question is not how many aircraft there are but how long it took to assemble the slots, routes and ground handling to make them productive.
International: 95 countries
SF's international business now covers 95 countries and regions for express, freight and supply chain services, with international small parcel service reaching 200 countries and regions. Its total warehouse space worldwide is more than 14 million square metres, including close to 2.55 million square metres of overseas warehouses across 37 countries and regions.
That warehouse footprint is the strategic asset. It exists to support cross-border e-commerce and, increasingly, Chinese manufacturers moving production and distribution abroad — a customer base that is growing quickly and that needs local inventory rather than long-haul shipping.
In the fourth quarter of 2025 the company consolidated its supply chain resources into a group-level business group focused on seven industries, including high technology, automotive and life sciences, with dedicated operating teams. That is a move from selling logistics capacity to selling industry-specific supply chain design, and it is the clearest signal of where the company thinks its margin will come from.
Automation and the digital layer
Automation at SF is not a showcase; it is deployed at scale. The company has put close to 3,000 unmanned delivery vehicles into operation, used for park shuttles, agricultural product collection and pharmaceutical routes, delivering more than 80 million parcels a year.
Sorting hubs use cross-belt sorters, vision recognition and intelligent scheduling, and the company is building what it calls a logistics domain large model — a model trained on logistics rather than on general text — alongside a broader digital operations and monitoring system that dispatches the network.
For a delegation, the interesting comparison is between automation in the hub and automation at the edge. Hub automation is capital equipment and is largely solved; last-mile automation is still being worked out, and SF's fleet is one of the few large-scale attempts to answer it.
What a visit covers
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 09:30–10:00 | Exhibition hall and supply chain demonstration area: company history, core technology, automated sorting and global footprint |
| 10:00–10:40 | Automated sorting hub in operation: parcel flow, sortation and dispatch, and how the network is monitored in real time |
| 10:40–11:30 | Executive dialogue and Q&A with management or operational staff, with two-way interpretation |
| 11:30 | Departure |
The standard programme runs about two hours and can be extended. It is adapted to what the delegation wants to understand, and the final scope is confirmed in writing during planning, before you commit.
The exhibition hall is where the network is easiest to grasp, because air, ground, warehouse and last-mile are presented as one system rather than as separate businesses. The discussion session is where international strategy, supply chain design and automation economics are handled, and it is the part most professional visitors value most.
Who it suits
The visit suits logistics and supply chain companies, manufacturers and retailers, e-commerce and cross-border businesses, investors and analysts, and public sector delegations working on infrastructure. It is also used by university and business school groups studying operations, and the company is experienced in receiving professional visitors, including international ones.
Practical notes
- The visit is a business programme. Delegations are received as professional visitors and follow the host's rules.
- Booking requires approval in advance. Foreign participants normally need to be registered with the host ahead of time, and that process is longer than for domestic visitors; allow additional working days for the paperwork.
- Provide the participant list, nationalities and professional focus early; the technical depth of the briefing is adjusted to suit.
- Photography rules are confirmed in advance; some areas carry confidentiality requirements. Tell us during planning if you need images for internal reporting.
- Smart casual is appropriate. The programme involves walking through exhibition and operational areas, so flat shoes are advisable.
- English interpretation can be arranged, including specialist preparation on logistics, aviation and supply chain terminology. Bilingual materials and an English summary can be prepared on request.
Questions before an SF Holding visit in Shenzhen
Is the visit open to international business delegations? Yes, subject to advance arrangements and confirmation by the host. Registration of foreign participants takes extra time, so we recommend planning at least 30 days ahead.
What is the group size? Visits are normally arranged for groups of 10 or more. We confirm the practical maximum with the host for your date.
How long does the visit take? The standard programme runs about two hours, covering the exhibition hall, a look at the automated and digital operations systems, and a discussion.
Where is the visit held? At the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, Nanshan district. We confirm the meeting point in writing after the host approves the booking.
Do participants need a logistics background? No. The visit can be approached through supply chain, operations, aviation, retail and e-commerce or investment, and terminology is handled through interpretation.
Is English interpretation provided? Yes, including preparation on logistics and supply chain terminology, and bilingual handouts can be arranged.
How large is the company? Revenue was 308.23 billion yuan in 2025, up 8.4 per cent, with profit attributable to shareholders of 11.12 billion yuan and 16.7 billion parcels handled, up 25.4 per cent.
What makes the air operation distinctive? The largest freighter fleet in Asia, and Ezhou cargo hub, Asia's largest dedicated air cargo hub, with 59 domestic and 22 international cargo routes and more than 30,000 freighter movements at Ezhou in 2025.
How international is it? International express, freight and supply chain services reach 95 countries and regions, small parcel service reaches 200, and there are close to 2.55 million square metres of overseas warehouses in 37 countries and regions.
How automated is it? Close to 3,000 unmanned delivery vehicles are in operation, delivering more than 80 million parcels a year, alongside automated sorting and a logistics domain large model.
What documentation is needed in advance? A participant list with passport details for foreign visitors, submitted to the host for registration, plus the delegation's professional focus. We tell you the lead time for your specific group.
Does the programme always run as described? It is built around the elements above. Facilities and areas opened on the day are subject to what the site opens, and we confirm the final scope in writing during planning, before you commit.
Arrange your SF Holding visit
Tell us your dates, group size and what your team wants to understand: how 16.7 billion parcels a year are coordinated, what it takes to build an air cargo network around scarce slots, how overseas warehouses support manufacturers moving production abroad, or where automation actually pays in logistics. China Innovation Visits will coordinate the company reception, discussion priorities, transport and English interpretation.
Contact China Innovation Visits to arrange your SF Holding visit in Shenzhen.