China's courier sector expanded in April with significant growth in delivery scale, according to an industry index released by the State Post Bureau on Friday.
The express delivery development index stood at 443.2 in April, up 6.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the bureau.
The sub-index for development scale rose 15.7 percent year on year. The sub-index for service quality grew 1.5 percent from a year earlier, and the sub-index for development capacity increased 1.4 percent year on year.
China's courier sector handled 550 million parcels per day in April, according to the bureau.
The index is compiled based on data from major logistics firms operating delivery services. It reflects overall business activities and trends in the country's courier sector.
"The postal and express delivery industry has been continuously strengthening capacity building in ensuring services to support innovative and diversified consumption scenarios," said said Liu Jiang, director of the Strategic Planning Research Department of the State Post Bureau's Development Research Center.
"Meanwhile, the postal and express delivery industry will keep enhancing the construction of rural express delivery and logistics systems, smooth the economic circulation between urban and rural areas, and reduce rural logistics costs, so as to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation and contribute to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas," he added.
China's express delivery sector expands in April
