Online shoppers fuelling China parcel delivery boom

Online shopping is driving a boom in China parcel delivery services.
A key indicator of eCommerce growth, the number of packages delivered in China grew 56.4 per cent to 5.77 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to the State Post Bureau, a government agency that manages shipping companies in China. This compares with 41.7 per cent growth in the same quarter last year.
Online orders generate more than 80 per cent of parcels shipped in China, according to eCommerce giant Alibaba Group Holding.
Of the more than 5 billion packages delivered, 180 million needed delivery workers to collect payment – about 3 per cent of the total number of parcels, says the bureau.
It notes the average shipping cost fell 8.8 per cent to 13.4 yuan (US$2.06) from 14.7 yuan in the same quarter last year, attributing this to competition among China’s 3000 shipping companies.
It also says the number of parcels shipped by global companies, including FedEx and the United Parcel Service (UPS), grew 38.5 per cent, compared to 62.1 per cent for private Chinese companies and 20 per cent for state-owned companies. However, global courier companies have only a 0.7 per cent share of the market, which translates into 40 million parcels for the quarter.
FedEx says it has 200 freight flights a week into China and has 2700 delivery vehicles. Represented in 78 cities across the nation, the company is expanding and plans to invest $100 million in building an international shipping centre in Shanghai next year.

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