China handles nearly 2.6 billion express parcels during Labor Day holiday

Nearly 2.6 billion express delivery parcels were handled by the Chinese courier industry during this past Labor Day holiday, which stretched from May 1 to 5, according to the State Post Bureau (SPB).

A staff member of China Post scans parcels in Daoxian county, Hunan province on May 1, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua)

A total of 1.34 billion parcels were collected, up 22.95 percent year on year, and registering a 97.13 percent surge compared with the same period in 2019. The number of parcels delivered hit 1.25 billion, 22.28 percent more than the number of deliveries in 2020 and 91.77 percent more than was delivered two years ago.

During the five-day holiday, online sales for farm produce demonstrated significant growth. A total of 360 million and 220 million parcels were shipped to and from rural areas, respectively, with both figures indicating a 30 percent increase over 2020 numbers, while being 10 percentage points higher than the overall number of parcels handled in urban areas.