Express delivery industry gives boost to China's rural revitalization

Staff workers work at a warehouse of courier service provider Yunda Express in Zhili Town of Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 8, 2021. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

The postal and express delivery industry is playing an increasingly important role in China’s rural revitalization.

Over 100 million parcels are being delivered to and from rural areas each day thanks to the accelerated building of a rural delivery logistics system in recent years, according to statistics issued by the State Post Bureau.

Over the past few years, China has improved its rural logistics infrastructure and the efficiency of its logistics services. At present, express delivery services are available in 90 percent of all Chinese administrative villages thanks to the increasingly developed rural express network. More and more consumer goods are flowing to the countryside via the delivery logistics system. In the first three quarters of 2022, online retail sales in China’s rural areas approached 1.5 trillion yuan (about $221.43 billion), up 3.6 percent year on year.

Livestreaming team members of Wuyishan Zhumeng Qianlan ecological tea cooperative promote tea products at a tea garden in Xingcun Township of Wuyishan, southeast China's Fujian Province, Aug. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)

The improvement of China’s rural delivery logistics system has expanded the space for rural development. Thanks to the rapid development of new types of e-commerce, such as livestreaming, a growing number of local farm produce and specialties can be sold directly to consumers across the country via the delivery logistics system, meeting the diversified demands of consumers and expanding farmers’ sources of income. In the first nine months of 2022, online retail sales of agricultural products grew 8.8 percent year on year to 374.51 billion yuan (about $55.2 billion) .

With smoother rural logistics, a new batch of rural industries with local characteristics are emerging, forming a number of influential local brands. They have injected new impetus and energy into the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

In addition, skilled workers have returned to the countryside to look for jobs and set up businesses at an accelerated pace, thanks to the rapid development of rural e-commerce.

In China’s rural areas, many college graduates have opened online stores while couriers have set up express service outlets. The emergence of livestreaming commerce and short video marketing has expanded the sales channels of agricultural and sideline products and provided job opportunities for more people. China aims to see over 15 million people return or move to rural areas to start up businesses by 2025.