More than 40 billion parcels collected and delivered in first five months this year

China's courier industry has set a new record, collecting and delivering over 40 billion parcels in the first five months of this year, seven months earlier than the figure was reached in 2017, and about two months earlier than in 2020.

Staff workers work at a warehouse of courier service provider Yunda Express in Zhili Town of Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 8, 2021. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

This new record has demonstrated not only the vital role played by the express delivery industry in promoting consumption and facilitating economic circulation in China, but also the resilience, vitality and growth potential of this market.

Real-time monitoring data from the State Post Bureau (SPB) indicated that the courier industry handles a daily average of more than 266 million parcels, equivalent to more than 3,000 parcels every second.

According to the SPB, the postal express industry across the country collected 874 million parcels and delivered 870 million parcels during the just concluded three-day Dragon Boat Festival (June 12-14) in China, a year-on-year increase of 44.29 percent and 33.9 percent respectively.

"The express industry is playing an increasingly important role in economic and social development, and has made great contributions to facilitating circulation, boosting production, promoting consumption and providing convenience for people's lives," said Ma Junsheng, director of the SPB, at a recent event.

An executive with the SPB explained that there are two main driving forces behind the high growth rate of the express delivery business in May this year. Firstly, an online shopping festival held this month did a great deal to boost consumer enthusiasm for online shopping during the Labor Day holiday.

In fact, during this period, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 28.2 percent year on year, and the number of express parcels collected reached 1.34 billion, an increase of 23 percent year on year and 97.13 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

Secondly, demand for the more efficient delivery of fresh products continues to grow. In May, local fruits from all over the country started to ripen, and the growth in demand for their deliveries increased significantly.

During the three-day Labor Day holiday alone, the number of parcels collected in rural areas exceeded 200 million, an increase of 30 percent over the same period last year, and about 10 percentage points higher than that of the urban growth rate, driving the express market to expand more rapidly.