By Liang Yangchun, Almanac of China’s Economy & Zhou Jianqi, Enterprise Research Institute, DRC

Research report No.15, 2018 (Total 5290) 2018-1-17

Abstract: Postal enterprises have gradually developed a new business mode covering communications, logistics and finance. Boasting the advantage of a wide coverage of services and resources, the enterprises are steadily expanding the social comprehensive services focusing on agriculture, rural areas and farmers. The services of the postal enterprises could reach every rural household and farmer and cover various fields, thereby effectively solving some thorny issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. However, there are relevant hard nuts to crack such as the insufficient support of national policies, inappropriate local supportive policies, entrenched institutional barriers and unsound rural credit system. In this regard, this paper has put forward the following policy options. First, the government needs to formulate national postal strategies in light of the new era and build a postal system with Chinese characteristics. Second, it needs to make proper national institutions and develop a public postal service system. Third, it needs to flesh out the postal services for agriculture, rural areas and farmers as well as systematic policies for poverty alleviation in a targeted manner. Fourth, it needs to enforce local governments’ service-oriented functions and make their services accessible to agriculture, rural areas and farmers and tailored to the policy of poverty alleviation. Fifth, it needs to support the postal enterprises to innovate business forms and give preference to the development of professional services for agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

Key words: postal enterprises, service for agriculture, rural areas and farmers, policy options