On July 21, China’s State Council Information Office held a press conference on high-quality progress on key tasks in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), introducing the achievements in accelerating building up China’s strength in transport during this period. Minister of Transport Liu Wei and Director General of the State Post Bureau Zhao Chongjiu announced at the meeting that China had built the largest high-speed railway network, expressway network as well as postal and express network in the world, and the postal sector had established over 500,000 outlets in the country. The business volume of express services in China has ranked first in the world for 11 consecutive years, with the average daily collection of express items exceeding the 500 million mark currently.

The postal sector has played an increasingly prominent role in economic and social development. The business revenue of the postal sector grew from 1.1 trillion yuan (about 153 billion US dollars) in 2020 to 1.7 trillion yuan (about 236 billion US dollars) in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 11.3 percent. During the period, the business volume of express services surged from about 83 billion pieces in 2020 to 175 billion pieces in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of about 20 percent. The economies of scale of postal and express services have continued to amplify, and their impetus for industries and regional economy has significantly strengthened, making them a crucial pillar for promoting consumption, expanding domestic demands and stabilizing growth.

The postal sector has assumed even greater significance in modern logistics. Currently, large-scale AI models are assisting companies in advancing intelligent transformation in all links from warehouse management to last mile delivery. Unmanned technologies are making significant contributions to warehousing, transportation and delivery, and automation and intelligence have boosted the efficiency and service of express services, enabling a maximum daily collection volume of 729 million express items. By deeply integrating with the comprehensive national transport network and national logistics hubs, the postal sector has actively constructed a modern logistics operation system featuring hubs plus channels plus networks, with the domestic express services leading the world in terms of timeliness, service quality and cost-performance.

The postal sector has demonstrated growing evidence of its advantages in reducing logistics costs of the whole society. Currently, the air capacity of express services is continuously increasing, the railway transportation of express items has become normal, and the development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) low-altitude logistics is steadily advancing. The postal sector lays much stress on serving the real economy, and keeps deepening the coordinated development of modern agriculture and advanced manufacturing. By embedding itself in supply chains, extending industrial chains and enhancing value chains, it has achieved the coordinated integration of logistics factors and economic factors. The postal sector has actively promoted the construction of cold chain transit hubs across the country. And the rapid development of cold chain transportation has effectively facilitated the transportation of high-quality agricultural products from rural areas to urban markets. The postal sector has also developed new models of inbound logistics and international supply chains, and cumulatively fostered more than 1,600 key projects to support the industries. Besides, express services have effectively served e-commerce livestreaming and other emerging online consumption entities, facilitating online retail sales of over 13 trillion yuan (about 1.806 trillion US dollars) in 2024.