China will promote the green development of the postal and courier industry in 2022 with the wider application of recyclable express delivery packaging and new energy vehicles, in a bid to reduce pollution and carbon emissions, postal authorities said on Thursday.

The country will roll out policies to standardize packaging operations, reduce over packaging, and encourage the recycling of packaging boxes, Ma Junsheng, head of the State Post Bureau, said at the bureau's annual work conference.

A total of 10 million recyclable packing boxes will be used next year, and 700 million corrugated boxes will be reused, according to the conference.

The industry will use more new-energy and clean-energy vehicles and explore the construction of green distribution centers, he added.

China's courier industry is expected to see a total of 1.04 trillion yuan ($163.19 billion) in revenue in 2021, up 18 percent from a year ago, with the number of parcels handled soaring 30 percent year-on-year to 108.5 billion, data from the bureau shows.

After China announced it would strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, the ambitious targets were lauded by all sectors. 

According to the 14th Five-Year Plan for E-commerce Development, e-commerce enterprises should actively adapt to green and low-carbon development requirements, establish a green development vision, fulfill environmental protection responsibilities and promote green innovation.

A number of Chinese e-commerce and courier companies have joined the "low-carbon" campaign in developing recyclable packaging and deploying new-energy cargo vans. Their efforts helped the annual Double 11 shopping bonanza record a sharp drop in carbon emissions in 2021.

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(With input from Xinhua)