Germany's DHL on Friday became the first foreign express company to launch a domestic air-express operation in China.

To date, Chinese companies have had a monopoly on the market, a DHL spokesman said in Shanghai on Friday.

"DHL eyes China as a fast developing market so its operation will soon extend to west China's cities and smaller cities," said Peter Landsiedel, chief executive officer of DHL in the Asia-Pacific area.

The China Air Transport Association (CATA) has approved DHL flying to 17 cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian, Shenyang, Qingdao, Tianjin, Chengdu, Xiamen, Urumqi, Xi'an, Nanjing, Kunming, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Wuhan.

The company planned to have 37 branches covering 70 cities in China in the next five years.

The service would mainly cater to the clothing, electronics, transport and bio-tech industries. It would cooperate with major freight carriers, including Air China Cargo, China Cargo Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines.

The Chinese air express market has grown by an annual average of 20 percent since 1990 to become the world's second largest market. It is expected to double in size by 2010, according to World Air Cargo Forecast 2006-2007 by Boeing Company.