China claims to be world’s biggest express delivery market by volume
The State Post Bureau has claimed that China overtook the United States in 2014 to become the world’s top country in terms of express delivery volumes. According to a statement issued by the State Post Bureau and relayed by China’s main news agencies, the total express delivery volume reached 13.96 billion items in 2014, which was a 51.9% on the previous year.
The peak month for China’s express delivery businesses was November, when 1.65 billion parcels were delivered.
According to Chinese news agencies, market analysts said this surge was due at least in part to “Singles’ Day”, which falls on November 11 and has become the country’s largest online shopping festival.
Indeed, China’s booming e-commerce market is seen as the key driver for the surge in parcel deliveries. As reported last week, the Chinese authorities are keen to develop more e-commerce opportunities in rural communities, which should generate still more growth in the express delivery market.
When judged in terms of revenue, however, China still lags far behind the United States. According to the State Post Bureau, China’s express delivery companies collectively achieved a total revenue of 204.54 billion yuan ($32.95 billion) in 2014, which was up by more 40% on the previous year – but there is much unrealized potential.
