Explosion raises concern over China's express mail security
Questions have been raised over security within China’s express delivery industry, after a parcel exploded at the weekend in downtown Hangzhou. Two employees at an office of the Yuangtong Express Company were slightly injured and hospitalised after the explosion Sunday night in the capital of the Zhejiang province, south-east of Shanghai, and there was some property damage.
Chinese media report that police in Hangzhou arrested a suspect late on Monday, Wang Jianjia, who confessed to an attempt to send fireworks to his former employer to “vent his resentment” at being fired last year.
China Express Association vice secretary Shao Zhonglin suggested the explosion was the result of “lax security”.
Chinese law requires express firms to carry out safety checks of each parcel they receive, but the regulations are seldom applied.
“The package explosion has sounded a safety alarm of China’s express industry, so greater efforts must be made to improve services,” Shao told China Daily earlier today.
Yuangtong Express
The Yuangtong Express Company management held a special meeting this week to look at security concerns
Shanghai-based Yuangtong Express, a large private express carrier founded in 2000, reopened its Hangzhou office on Monday morning.
The company’s regional management committee and its management board held emergency meetings yesterday at company headquarters to look at ways to strengthen security and respond to concerns about its delivery system.
Staff will receive regular safety training and will be expected to memorize a catalogue of prohibited items, and inspections of packages and the supply chain will be stepped up.
Meanwhile, further investigation will be carried out to identify the “weak links” in the network, the firm said.
Company chairman Yu-wei Jiao promised to strengthen security in the entire Yuangtong Express network and ensure postal industry standards were strictly enforced, stressing that security was “fundamental” to the business.
Yuangtong Express issued a formal apology to customers earlier today, conceding that the company’s Jianguo Road site in Hangzhou had “failed to strictly enforce the proper security network management system requirements”.
The company said it would take lessons from the incident and that corrective measures had been taken.
