Courier delivery booms in China

SHANGHAI - Courier delivery services are booming in China, with business scale set to surpass the US this year, statistics show.

A total of 9.19 billion parcels were delivered in China in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 61.6 percent, making the sector the second biggest in the world.

Total revenue surged 36.6 percent to 144.17 billion yuan ($23.6 billion), according to figures published by the State Post Bureau (SPB).

And the trend is showing no signs of slowing.

According to the SPB, more than 10 billion packages were delivered in China in the first nine months of the year.

With the upcoming week-long shopping bonanza around Nov 11, widely known as "Singles' Day", and the traditional promotional periods of Christmas and New Year, the industry is estimated to have processed over 12 billion parcels by the end of the year, easily surpassing the US, which expects no more than 11 billion deliveries in 2014.

E-commerce is the major force driving the business, said Li Dehui, deputy head of China Express Association.

"As online shopping continues to expand, particularly in China's rural areas, the sector's future remains brisk," Li said.

E-commerce revenue in China stood at 1.85 trillion yuan in 2013, according to official statistics.

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