The economic crisis may have hammered shipping and logistics firms, but Damco North Asia chief executive Steffen Schiottz-Christensen called it an opportunity in disguise.

       "Never waste a great recession," he said. "It's quite amazing what you can do when your back's against the wall."

       With business plummeting 20 percent in 2009 and facing pressure to slash spending, Damco pushed long-standing plans to centralise its supply chain management operations up the priority list. The result; Damco just announced the official opening of its new global customer service centre in Chengdu's Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.