Express companies are ready to deliver years of rapid growth

EMS workers handle packages at the branch center in Changsha, Hunan province. China is likely to become the world's largest market for express services this year, lifted by the e-commerce boom and fast rural infrastructure development. BAI YU/XINHUA

China is likely to become the world's largest market for express services this year, lifted by the e-commerce boom and fast rural infrastructure development, a top official said.

Ma Junsheng, director-general of the State Post Bureau of China and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, said the government will support domestic delivery enterprises as they move to set up more service points in county-level markets and continue to expand in the nation's vast western regions.

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China is the second-largest market for express services, behind the United States. Last year, more than 7,500 express companies were operating in China, compared with 5,327 in 2010.

Also last year, 9.2 billion packages and letters were delivered in and from China to global destinations by Chinese and international carriers, according to the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

"The soaring economy and application of information technology, and the changing population structure between urban and rural areas, will push China's express sector to a further division among more sophisticated and segmented markets," Ma said.

Since State-owned Express Mail Service and FedEx Corp of the United States began to offer next-morning, next-day and third-day delivery services, and refunds for delayed packages a decade ago, China's express market has been transformed from price-oriented to service-oriented.

To attract more customers and grab limited market share, domestic and foreign companies have launched more personalized and segmented delivery services.

These include the businesses of delivering medical products, online booking and courier services, as well as buying and leasing more aircraft to support their operations.