China's express delivery sector needs to ease pressure on local outlets and improve couriers' working conditions as rising parcel volumes strain last-mile services, industry representatives said at a conference in Beijing on Friday.
A report released at the 12th Express Delivery Last Mile Conference found that the average number of parcels handled daily by an individual delivery outlet rose 35.5 percent from 855.7 in 2023 to 1,159.8 in 2025.
"The workload is key to understanding many of the challenges facing last-mile delivery — why couriers are so busy and why outlets are under such pressure," Zhang Ping, a senior editor at China Post and Express News, who presented the report, said.
Based on a survey of postal regulators, delivery outlets and couriers, the report found that only 17.84 percent of surveyed outlets had seen an increase in the money they received for deliveries.
Zhang said the benefits of improving prices had yet to reach many outlets.
"The industry needs to ensure that outlets can make a profit and couriers' rights are protected, so that the benefits of development reach the last mile," she said.
Zhou Zhaohua, deputy head of the State Post Bureau of China, called for efforts to improve services, oppose excessive competition and strengthen protections for couriers.
Qu Kai, deputy director of the bureau's market supervision department, urged companies to share more profits with local outlets and improve couriers' working conditions.
"Companies should improve working conditions, regulate employment practices and optimize the settlement of delivery fees to protect the rights of frontline workers," he said.
Rural delivery remains a particular challenge. Peng Hongmei, head of the Guizhou provincial postal administration, said the mountainous province had used the postal network to reach villages where commercial operators struggled to provide sustainable services.
"Delivering parcels to villages is not just about bringing online purchases in," she said. "We also need to open channels for agricultural products to reach markets."
China handled 198.95 billion express parcels in 2025, up 13.6 percent year-on-year, according to the State Post Bureau.
