UPS said Wednesday it will move its main air hub for Asia from the Philippines to Shenzhen in China's industrial southern region, a sign of the rapid change in the economic trading balance in Asia.

While UPS said it would be holding back on certain corporate investments because of rising fuel prices and the weak U.S. economy, the company said it would continue to push forward with its expansion plan for China.

The company's new intra-Asian hub will be at the Shenzhen airport in southern China, near Hong Kong, slashing at least a day off shipment times-in-transit for Asian customers while boosting service in the manufacturing region immediately to the north.

Expected to go operational in 2010, the new hub is being developed at an estimated cost of about $180 million.