FedEx was founded by former US Marine Corps member Frederick W.Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1971, but moved to Memphis,Tennessee in 1973 because officials at Little Rock airport refusedto provide facilities for the company.
After relocating to Tennessee, FedEx provided services to 25cities, but faced numerous difficulties and suffered significantlosses in the early stages. But a few years later, the businessbegan to improve, and in July 1975, the company made its firstprofit. In 1978, FedEx was officially launched.
At present, FedEx serves 3 million customers in 210 cities everyday. Its main competitors include DHL, UPS, and USPS. The $96million venture capital incubation of FedEx has also set a recordfor the highest single investment in the history of the UnitedStates.
If FedEx had failed, people would not have seen theunprecedented prosperity of today's venture capital market.Although the venture capital market would still exist, its level ofactivity would be much lower.
FedEx was one of the earliest foreign companies to recognize thehuge market in China. It entered China in 1984 and has developedrapidly in the past 20 years, achieving remarkable results year byyear and setting many world records. The company, which used tooperate twice a week, now has 11 flights in and out of China everyweek, making it the international courier company with the mostdirect flights to China; In 1996, there were only 60 citiesproviding express delivery services, but now it has grown to 220cities; In 1999, FedEx and Tianjin Datian Group established a jointventure, Datian FedEx Co., Ltd., in Beijing. The cooperationbetween the two parties was smooth and close, further promoting thedevelopment of China's express delivery business. The first phaseof the FedEx Asia Pacific Transit Center project startedconstruction on January 16th in Huadong Town, Huadu District,Guangzhou. The Asia Pacific Transit Center was put into operationin October 2008. FedEx was the first multinational freight giant toestablish an intercontinental transit center in China, bringing$150 million in investment, an annual cargo volume of 600000 tons,and the opportunity for Baiyun Airport to take off.