DHL, the world's leading logistics company, opened Thursday its biggest express shipping hub in Asia at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

The DHL Express North Asia Hub, built with a total investment of 175 million U.S. dollars, covers 88,000 square meters -- roughly equivalent to 13 football fields. It can process up to 20,000 documents and 20,000 parcels an hour.

The company, which acts as the express delivery arm of Deutsche Post DHL, also announced that it will spend 132 million dollars to add eight dedicated aircraft to service high-demand routes between Shanghai, north Asia, Europe and the United States by 2014.