NANJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Pan Hu, a 29-year-old deliveryman, never expected that he would one day be a recipient of the May Fourth Medal, the top honor for young Chinese presented annually before the national Youth Day which falls on May 4.

Young individuals including scientists, medical staff and military personnel were among this year's medal winners for their great contributions to the country. This honor was also bestowed on Pan, the only deliveryman on the list.

"My peers regard me as a role model now, but this honor truly goes to all the 3 million Chinese deliverymen," Pan said.

Pan joined Suning Logistics, a subsidiary of Chinese retail giant Suning Holdings Group, five years ago, and became a deliveryman in the city of Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

He has completed more than 150,000 delivery orders and driven a total of over 20,000 km, with zero customer complaints.

During the coronavirus epidemic, Pan and his colleagues set up a youth team consisting of 120 logistics staffers. They sent daily necessities, such as cooking oil, meat, vegetables and disinfection products, to residential communities in Nanjing.

Many residential communities across China adopted closed-off management measures to curb the spread of the virus through human contact. As a result, entry of deliverymen was denied.

"We have to walk a long way to deliver parcels in some remote rural areas. For some valuable parcels, we have to wait for customers to fetch them in person," Pan said.

"Every delivery carries plenty of expectations and wishes," he said. "We were constantly touched as many customers would give us water or drinks to express their thanks."

He earned an average of 10,000 yuan (about 1,416 U.S. dollars) a month in 2019, which enabled him to buy a car and an apartment with a mortgage to settle down in Nanjing. He was promoted to a regional manager this year for his outstanding performance.

"It proves that working as a deliveryman, one can also have a promising future," he said.

Fueled by online shopping and takeout fever, China's courier sector handled more than 60 billion parcels last year. There are now more than 3 million deliverymen across the country.

More young deliverymen like Pan have chosen the walk of life as their career. "But the dropout rate of this job is still high, mainly due to the lack of career planning and social recognition," said Jiang Bo, vice director of the provincial postal administration of Jiangsu.

In 2017, Suning Logistics launched a "Courier Day" to uplift the deliverymen. The company and Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications jointly established China's first "courier college" to provide professional skill training courses.

In January, several Chinese authorities including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released a national standard of vocational skills for deliverymen.

In February, the Chinese government added delivery riders to its national occupation list, which should lead to improved working conditions and more career opportunities for the group.

"Ultimately, we should seek to empower the young deliverymen," said Yao Kai, executive president of Suning Logistics, noting that it requires concerted efforts from society to strengthen the sense of belonging and happiness of the group.

"Create convenience, work hard and be patient. These are my own working principles. I believe as long as you devote yourself to this line of work, your efforts will pay off," Pan said.