Airocean to create express courier: forwarder will use stake in budget airline as base for ambitious venture for full China coverage.(Air & Express)

Never shy about pushing the limits of freight forwarding, Singapore-based Airocean Group is stretching its business model even further in its bid to set up an air express operation in China.

The company took a 19 percent stake in a multinational joint venture that will create China's first domestic budget airline. For Airocean, that stake is part of an ambitious plan to set up an express delivery venture called Express Courier China, itself the foundation of an even larger plan to create an Asia-based integrated international express operator.

The two partners in the express delivery venture, Airocean and Singapore-based aerospace components manufacturer …