Published : 29/12/2025
When it comes to online shopping in China, the first name that springs to mind is undoubtedly Taobao. Similarly, when discussing Chinese courier services, consumers will invariably think of SF Express.
The success of SF Express is not merely a result of China's economic development and the rise in public spending power; it is also inextricably linked to its helmsman—Wang Wei. How exactly did he build this delivery empire of today?
Taking off with China's Reform and Opening-up
Wang Wei (王衛), born in 1971, moved to Hong Kong at the age of seven, but after completing his secondary school education, he did not continue his studies, instead going to Shunde in Guangdong Province to work in the dyeing industry.
Dyeing and express delivery are completely unrelated, and how did he later become China's king of express delivery? Furthermore, how did he become one of the people who changed China's economy and consumer habits?
The story began in the early 1990s, when Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), the "chief architect" of China's Reform and Opening-up, made his southern tour, which changed the general direction of China's economy.
At that time, as more than 10 years had passed since the Reform and Opening-up started, voices doubting its effectiveness re-emerged in society.
So, to strengthen the public's confidence and resolve in the policy, Deng Xiaoping toured Shenzhen, which acted as the bridgehead for the Reform and Opening-up. This southern tour triggered a great wave of more than 80,000 Hong Kong manufacturing enterprises moving north into the Chinese Mainland.
At that time, of the enterprises that moved north to set up factories, more than 50,000 were in the Pearl River Delta region alone, which spurred the rapid development of businesses such as mail and freight between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region, and also marked a milestone for the renewed take-off of China's economy.
At that time, as a Hong Kong resident, Wang Wei was asked by friends to transport simple and light goods between Hong Kong and Guangdong. Over time, more and more people sought his services, and at times, he could not even fit everything onto two trolleys.
This made Wang Wei realise that freight transport between Hong Kong and Guangdong would be a rare and enormous business opportunity.
SF Express holding a leading position in China
A person can be poor for a time, but not for a lifetime.
At the time, Wang seized this opportunity. After scraping together 100,000 RMB from his own earnings of 40,000 RMB, a 30,000 RMB loan from his father, and his wife's scholarship, he and his friends registered SF Express in Shunde and started the express delivery business.
That was on 26 March 1993, and at the time, Wang Wei's strategy was that while others charged 70 RMB per delivery, SF Express would only charge 40 RMB.
This strategy of undercutting prices to attract customers was very successful, and SF Express quickly extended its business throughout Guangdong. By 1997, Wang Wei had virtually monopolised all the express delivery business to and from Hong Kong. In that year, Wang Wei was only 26 years old.
The success of SF Express was not just about the price war, and not just about seizing the opportunities of China's economic development. More importantly, it was about Wang Wei's ability to make good use of technology.
As a leading courier company, SF Express began using portable communication tools very early on. In the early days, SF Express couriers still used the most simple and direct method, which was to go door-to-door to ask people for collections, but this was time-consuming and inefficient.
With the advent of pagers, SF Express first equipped all its couriers with pagers, and whenever there was an urgent delivery, the couriers would receive a message "119", which meant they had to return to the company immediately.
When smartphones appeared, SF Express then provided each courier with a smartphone, used for tracking deliveries and registering customers, among other tasks, achieving online processing and setting a new precedent in the industry.
Moreover, these phones were waterproof and dustproof, and resistant to drops and knocks, making them the best tool for couriers who needed to travel long distances.
Besides using technology, Wang Wei was also very bold in improving operations. In 2003, when China experienced the SARS epidemic, it led to the rise of e-commerce. The surge in demand for e-commerce caused the courier business to boom.
Wang made an important decision at that time: as air freight prices plummeted, he unprecedentedly chartered five aircraft for cargo transport, becoming the first private enterprise in China to use all-cargo charter flights.
It was because of this move that SF Express widened the gap between itself and other logistics companies.
By 2009, SF Express went a step further, establishing its own airline and buying its own aircraft.
Do not forget, 2009 was the time of the financial crisis. The global economy collapsed, and many logistics companies went bankrupt. Wang Wei took a financial risk, and this move by SF Express allowed it to control long-term costs, becoming a leading courier company in China, and even the world.
To the average person, logistics is often seen as nothing more than manual lifting and shifting, hardly a sophisticated trade.
Yet, in Wang Wei's hands, it has been transformed through the use of advanced technology and a fleet of aircraft. This approach has defined SF Express by a single word—"speed"—and written a legendary chapter in Wang Wei's business career.