China's postal sector reported earnings of 36.98 billion yuan (about 4.5 billion US dollars) last year, a year-on-year growth of 28.8 percent, and expects an income of 42 billion yuan this year, said Liu Liqing, director of the State Post Bureau, at a just-concluded national work conference.

Last year saw rapid growth of the postal service in China, and the postal savings sector enjoyed the fastest growth, with total savings reaching 381 billion yuan bringing about a 60 percent increase in earnings.

China successfully hosted the 22nd Universal Postal Union Congress in August and September last year, which strengthened ties between China and other countries in providing postal services.

The new century has brought China's postal sector more opportunities as well as challenges, said Liu Liqing, explaining that the trend of economic globalization, fast-developing technical innovations, and the deepening of state enterprise reform in China all are exerting great influence on the postal sector.

Under these circumstances, the country is set to explore the information services market in addition to traditional delivery, savings, and philately services.

The country will also step up promotion of state-of-the-art techniques to improve its postal services, Liu said.

China's postal sector will give the priority to delivery service this year, hoping to double the earnings of business mail.

At the same time, the postal sector will establish a nationwide network to provide information services via telephone, while tapping the lucrative Internet business featuring e-commerce.