Express delivery and logistics company, DHL, has launched domestic airfreight service in China with operation in 17 cities.

DHL Global Forwarding, a DHL’s business unit, currently provides air and ocean freight services, but is the first international forwarder to obtain the China Air Transport Association (CATA) domestic airfreight license. DHL will now offer both domestic express and domestic airfreight services.

“China has become one of the most significant logistics markets worldwide, with an abundance of open regulations and huge growth potential,” said Peter Landsiedel, CEO – Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding. “We are confident that the license to operate and gain entry into the domestic airfreight market will provide fresh opportunities and improved management of heavy airfreight from door to door for our customers.”

According to the latest Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast, the domestic airfreight market has grown at more than 20 percent every year since 1990, and is expected to double its current size in 2010. China’s domestic air cargo market has become the second largest in the world with an annual growth rate forecast of 10.8 percent over the next two decades.

Currently, DHL has 17 domestic airfreight licenses, allowing for the provision of the DHL Global Forwarding Domestic Airfreight service in Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian, Shenyang, Qingdao, Tianjin, Chengdu, Xiamen, Wu Lu Mu Qi, Nanjing, Ningbo, Xi’an, Kunming, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. A total of 30 CATA licensed branches/warehouses, covering 70 cities, are scheduled for development by DHL in the next five years.

DHL has invested more than $1.7 billion in Asia Pacific in the past few years.