While Bill Gates’ vision of a paperless office remains a distant dream, today’s globally-integrated businesses still rely on the rapid delivery of products and documents across national borders. As China remains a linchpin of the 21st century economy, its granting of licenses to FedEx and UPS on Monday to begin domestic courier service ranks as momentous news.

Both companies will be able to deliver to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin; FedEx will offer additional service to Hangzhou, Dalian, Zhengzhou and Chengdu while UPS will also deliver to Xian, as reported by Bloomberg News this week. While both companies have operated in China for some time, efficiency should improve as both companies will no longer have to partner with local companies to effect the final delivery of China-based packages.

In the long-term, FedEx and UPS have their sights on the massive potential for profit from intra-China delivery. In the short-term, the move should reduce the cost and increase the speed of delivery from Western markets to China.

China’s granting of the licenses comes ahead of an approved IPO floatation by the state-run China Postal Express on the Shanghai market , as the Wall Street Journal reports. The bottom line for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs is that delivery to and from China will become swifter, cheaper, and easier to track.