Nation keeps top spot in express deliveries

China has remained the world’s largest market for the express delivery business since 2014, driven by the booming of e-commerce.

Data from the State Post Bureau show that the number of delivered parcels reached 31.28 billion in 2016, up from 20.67 billion in the previous year. In 2012, there were around 5.69 billion delivered parcels.

The express delivery market is booming as its annual growth rate has remained more than 50 percent in the past five years.

The industry’s revenue reached 397.4 billion yuan ($59.1 billion) in 2016, up 43 percent from 277 billion yuan in 2015.

A total of 84.62 percent of the parcels, traveling a distance of less than 1,000 kilometers, could be delivered within 48 hours. A robot could handle around 1,700 parcels every day.

The average delivery price per parcel declined from 18.6 yuan in 2012 to 12.7 yuan in 2016 amid fierce competition among major operators, including SF Holding Ltd, STO Express and YTO Express.

Moreover, the coverage rate of express delivery branches in counties and rural areas rose to 80 percent in 2016.

Analysts attribute the surge in express delivery services to the popularity of e-commerce, led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Taobao, the country’s largest online retail marketplace.

According to data from the China E-Commerce Research Center, China’s e-commerce imports reached 1.2 trillion yuan ($174.17 billion) in 2016, growing 33.3 percent over 2015. The volume is expected to rise to 1.85 trillion yuan ($268.51 billion) this year.