China aims to nearly quadruple the revenues of its express delivery market by 2020 in a move to boost consumption and services as the economy slowed on softening trade and investment. The express delivery industry will have a target annual revenue of 800 billion yuan (126 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020, according to a policy document released by the State Council, China's cabinet, on Monday. The amount is nearly four times the revenue in 2014, which reached 204 billion yuan, up 42 percent year on year. The country plans to build an efficient and safe express delivery system with nationwide coverage, advanced technology and services and international connections by 2020, the cabinet said. The industry should aim to handle a total of 50 billion express delivery packages a year, compared with 14 billion in 2014.
It should also create 200,000 new jobs every year, supporting 10 trillion yuan in online retail sales annually and serving a daily average of 270 million customers, according to the document. The industry has some problems to address, it noted, such as low efficiency, backward infrastructure, safety loopholes and lack of competitiveness globally. The government will encourage delivery firms to use information technology such as mobile Internet, big data and cloud computing to upgrade services and enhance efficiency, the cabinet said.
It will also simplify the licensing procedures for delivery firms, give preference to delivery infrastructure in land use planning, and subsidize the construction of infrastructure in rural and western regions. Despite a slowing economy, express delivery services have grown steadily as online shopping gained popularity in China. The amount of express delivery packages has increased 8.2 times over the past six years. In the first half of 2015, express deliveries jumped by more than 43 percent year on year. On average, each Chinese person received more than 10 parcels last year, with only half of the country covered by the delivery network.
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