THE world's largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, ProLogis, is leasing 200,000 square feet of industrial space in China to DHL.

DHL will occupy a newly developed warehouse at ProLogis Park Lingang, located outside Shanghai near the Yangshan deepwater port complex which at full buildout will be able to handle 25 million TEU annually, making it the largest port in the world.

DHL will use the facility as a distribution point for goods leaving and entering China via ocean freight, a ProLogis statement said.

"ProLogis Park Lingang offers enormous advantages as a distribution hub, given the unique access it offers to Yangshan," said Victor Mok, senior vice president for DHL in China. "ProLogis is a trusted provider of distribution space to DHL all over the world, and we're very pleased to be working with them again."

ProLogis Park Lingang is being developed within the Lingang Industrial Area on the land-side end of the Yangshan Bridge that connects up to the deepwater port. The park consists of two distribution centres totalling 545,000 square feet. A third building totalling 110,000 square feet is under construction. Once all phases of the park have been developed it will be able to accommodate up to 10 million square feet of industrial space.

ProLogis entered the China market in 2004 and has since put 4.1 million square feet of distribution space into operation and another three million square feet under development. In addition to DHL, major customers in China include Adidas, L'Oreal, Menlo Worldwide, Nokia, NYK, Samsung and UPS.