China shows world how to deliver parcels
Country's 48-million-kilometer network handled 132 billion consignments last year. Luo Wangshu reports.
Since March, the network has been handling more than 10 billion parcels a month.
According to a report released in November by the Development and Research Center of the State Post Bureau, China's parcel delivery network is now more than 48.7 million kilometers long, with over 230,000 stations capable of serving 700 million clients a day.
The report said the delivery sector's global parcel volume reached about 189.2 billion in 2022 and was expected to reach 200 billion last year.
In 2022, the sector's revenue amounted to about 4.1 trillion yuan ($571 billion) — a year-on-year increase of over 12 percent — with the global per capita delivery volume standing at around 24 parcels.
"After years of rapid development, China is not only a leading and active express delivery market but also a catalyst for global parcel delivery development," Wang Xibin, the center's deputy director, said.
According to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, China handled 110.6 billion parcels in 2022, while the United States handled 21.2 billion, Japan 9.1 billion, and the United Kingdom 5.1 billion.
It added that parcel volume growth in China in 2022 was significantly affected by COVID-related shutdowns in Shanghai.
But China changed its COVID-19 management strategy last year and lifted travel restrictions, resulting in double-digit growth in parcel volumes.
