China's postal sector sets goals for next five years

China's postal sector has set goals for the industry's development from this year to 2025, aiming to handle more than 150 billion parcels in 2025 according to the State Postal Bureau of China on Tuesday. 

Three ministry-level departments, the State Postal Bureau of China, the Ministry of Transport and National Development and Reform Commission, jointly issued a five-year plan to guide the sector's development. 

According to the plan, in 2025 the annual operating revenue of the postal service industry will exceed 1.8 trillion yuan ($280 billion).

The sector will also continue to expand the network connecting rural and urban areas, as well as between China and overseas. More smart facilities in cities to send and receive parcels will meet diverse needs of customers. All villages will have access to parcel delivery services. It will also improve service between China and overseas destinations through several means, such as setting up more transfer hubs abroad. 

The sector will focus on innovation, investing more in research and development and establishing national labs to improve the capability for innovation. 

Zeng Junshan, director of the bureau's policy and regulation department, said the plan has set goals for development in five aspects—scale, infrastructure network, innovation capability, service quality and governance efficiency. 

He also noted 12 indicators have been named to evaluate development, such as revenue, the amount of recycled parcel wrappings and the increase rate of R&D investment for eight major parcel delivery companies. 

China's parcel delivery business has been booming in recent decades, especially since 2015. The country has handled more than 100 billion parcels this year, ranking top in the world. 

The number is expected to reach 150 billion in 2025. 

This year marks the first year for China's 14th Five-year Plan (2021-25) period, when each sector draws up plans for its development during that time, including the postal service.

"China will make efforts to improve the quality of the postal service to make it more convenient and faster," said Liu Ying, deputy director of the department. 

The sector will set a standard fare for parcel delivery services to make it more standardized. In residential areas in cities, more parcel stations and smart facilities will be established to make it more convenient for residents in the neighborhood to send and receive packages, Liu said. 

In rural areas, the sector aims to improve resource sharing, encouraging companies to team up to carry out sorting, transporting and collection to improve logistics systems in rural areas. 

She also noted the sector will enhance contactless services, such as promoting unmanned vehicles for delivery and transporting, as well as improving infrastructure.