Wang Wenfei, owner of an express delivery site, drives a motor tricycle to send parcels at Xihe Village, Yexi Town, Yuexi County, Anqing City, east China's Anhui Province, November 11, 2016. /CFP
Delivery services in China's rural areas recorded a solid expansion in the first eight months of this year, official data showed.
Between January and August, the delivery industry handled more than 28 billion parcels in rural areas, a jump of more than 30 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest data issued by the State Post Bureau in the first half of September.
The parcels included farm produce bound for the urban market and industrial products to be sold in rural areas. These products were valued at 1.4 trillion yuan ($217 billion).
At present, the rural market has become the new growth point of the express delivery industry, as one-third of more than 300 million parcels handled per day were in rural areas, said the bureau.
The booming delivery services not only increase farmers' incomes but also boost the local economy, said Chen Kai, deputy director of the State Post Bureau, at a press conference.
Well-known and quality agricultural products from villages in various regions have been sold well thanks to express delivery services.
Villagers get their parcels at an express delivery site at a village in Huaibei City, east China's Anhui Province, June 8, 2020. /CFP
Due to inconvenient transportation and a lack of marketing skills, prune fruit growers at Yongfeng Village, Bayannur City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, often sell their produce at a lower price.
To help prune growers sell fruit with good prices, a branch of ZTO Express, a leading express delivery company in China, contracted 10 acres of orchards at Yongfeng Village and made presales on e-commerce and livestreaming platforms when the fruits are still not ripe.
As soon as the fruits are ripe, ZTO Express will arrange vehicles to carry fruits just picked up to buyers, including those who have ordered the fruits online.
"On peak days, a total of 800 kilograms of prune fruits were sold out," said Guo Rong, who is in charge of the branch, in an interview with People's Daily.
Besides, residents in rural areas also pursue the express delivery industry to start their careers and earn money.
Liu Wanshun, born in the 1990s, started his express delivery site in Xun County, central China's Henan Province, with an investment of 100,000 yuan ($15,512). Nowadays, his express delivery business covers more than 400 villages in the county, dispatching 15,000 parcels daily to let locals enjoy convenient express delivery.
Since 2014, China has carried out a campaign to boost deliveries in rural areas. All county-level regions and 98 percent of the town-level regions now have access to express delivery services.