Today marks one of Chinese consumers' favorite days – Double Eleven, or Singles Day. Originally meant to celebrate singlehood, it's now become a day where millions of people go online and shop for items on sale. But with so many parcels being delivered across the nation, China's e-commerce platforms and postal services are facing challenges. One of which is protecting the environment. Wang Yuan takes a look at some of the green logistics being used to help deal with the issue.  

Green logistics is the process of minimizing damage to the environment, while still maintaining efficiency. The Chinese government started to promote the environment-friendly operation two years ago. And earlier this year in May, the Provisional Regulations on Express Delivery came into effect.

LIU CHONG SENIOR STAFF MEMBER OF BEIJING MUNICIPAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATION "The goals are improving efficiency of package utilization, reducing package consumption, and tackling environmental pollution. To learn more about the solution of green packaging that can be eventually duplicated and widely-used, the state post office has chosen Shun Feng Express, Jing Dong and 6 other brand enterprises, to carry out a pilot project on green packaging for express delivery.

Shun Feng Express established its first packing lab in 2013. They use environment-friendly material in making their boxes and packaging tape. This year, they've also developed a new type of box that is reusable, called Feng Box.

YAO HONGXU DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER OF SHUN FENG EXPRESS BEIJING "Because it saves on a lot of fillers, its design becomes more normative and practical. For example, ten million Feng Boxes can substitute five hundred million original used delivery boxes. Since we can recycle and reuse it nearly 50 times, it's making a great contribution to environmental protection."

Energy conservation and emissions reduction is another concern. Shun Feng Express has invested in more than eight thousand new energy vehicles to substitute fuel-powered vehicles over the past two years. 

YAO HONGXU DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER OF SHUN FENG EXPRESS BEIJING "In the next few years, Shun Feng plans to invest in fifteen thousand new energy vehicles. After that, we plan to save about thirty-thousand tons of energy and reduce emissions by more than a hundred thousand tons."

Although the Chinese express and logistics industry have already implemented green logistics, Liu believes there's still much to be done.

LIU CHONG SENIOR STAFF MEMBER OF BEIJING MUNICIPAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATION "The cost of existing new green packaging materials is high. The cost of biodegradable materials is 2-3 times higher than ordinary plastic materials, and the price of reusable free tape cartons is 40% higher than current cartons. At present, it is difficult to popularize green environmental protection packing across the entire industry."

Despite all the difficulties, green logistics remains to be a central goal of China's express and logistics market. Wang Yuan, CGTN.