Online sales drive delivery sector growth

A woman arranges parcels at a workshop in Guizhou, on Feb 17. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's parcel delivery sector saw double-digit growth in the first half of this year, boosting consumption recovery and enhancing the economy.

The nation handled more than 60 billion parcels from January to June, a year-on-year increase of 17 percent. The revenue of the sector is expected to exceed 550 billion yuan ($76.7 billion), up 11.5 percent year-on-year, according to the State Post Bureau of China.

About 26.9 billion parcels were handled during the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent. In the second quarter, about 10 billion parcels were handled every month.

Online sales promotions in the first half of the year boosted the development of the parcel delivery industry, especially in mid-June, when promotions coincided with Father's Day. The daily volume of parcels across the country from June 16 to June 20 was more than 400 million.

The sector has also seen rapid growth in cross-border business. In the first quarter, about 630 million parcels were imported and exported, up 46.8 percent annually.

The service quality of the sector also continued to grow in the first half of the year, said Wang Yuehan, a researcher with the development and research center of the State Post Bureau of China.

"The adoption of technology has improved the sector's service quality. The use of unmanned vehicles in multiple scenarios has boosted the efficiency of delivery and reduced costs, such as unmanned cold-chain vehicles and delivery robots in buildings," she added.

China's parcel delivery sector has seen rapid development in the past decade. Last year, express business volume in China reached more than 110 billion, ranking No 1 in the world in terms of scale. In 2013, the number was 9.2 billion.