China builds world's largest express delivery network

China

China builds world's largest express delivery network

2026-01-07 16:59 Last Updated At：18:52

China has established the world's largest express delivery network in terms of scale and beneficiary population during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with annual parcel delivery volume surging from tens of billions to hundreds of billions, according to data from the State Post Bureau.

Official data revealed that over the past five years, China's postal and courier service capacity has continuously improved. Annual business revenue grew from 1.1 trillion yuan (about 157.51 billion U.S. dollars) to 1.8 trillion yuan (about 257.74 billion U.S. dollars), with an average annual increase of over 10 percent, ranking among the top in the modern service sector.

Meanwhile, the annual parcel delivery volume rose from over 80 billion to nearly 200 billion items, with the per capita figure rising from 59 to 141.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China built the world's largest delivery network in both scale and user coverage. The network has further expanded into rural areas, while the international network now reaches all major global economies. The share of express business revenue and volume in central and western regions increased by 5.4 and 7.5 percentage points, respectively, in the national total," said Liu Ying, spokeswoman for the State Post Bureau.

Over the past five years, the postal and courier industry in China has accelerated its shift toward intelligent operations. Most large-scale sorting centers now run automated systems, and technologies including cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) models are being widely deployed for demand forecasting, smart warehouse, and route planning.

China's postal and courier sector now leads the world in integrated transport efficiency, informatization and organizational capabilities, service coverage, and cost-effectiveness, cementing China's position at the forefront of global logistics.

China to launch Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship on Sunday

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11:08 p.m. Sunday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Saturday.

Zhang Jingbo, spokesman of the agency, announced the launch schedule while briefing the media on the main tasks of the Shenzhou-23 mission.

"As evaluated and decided by the mission headquarters, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11:08 p.m. on May 24 (Beijing Time). The crew consists of astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, with Zhu being the commander," Zhang said.

The three astronauts, Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying will take over control of China's Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-21 crew who are currently in orbit.

"Astronaut Zhu Yangzhu previously took part in the Shenzhou-16 manned space mission. Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, from China's third and fourth batches of astronauts respectively, are making their first spaceflight. Zhang Zhiyuan was a pilot from Air Force. Lai Ka-ying worked for Hong Kong Police Force," Zhang said.

Notably, one astronaut from the Shenzhou-23 crew is set to conduct a year-long stay in orbit, while the other two will spend about six months in space.

The combination of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket was transferred to the launching area on May 16, with pre-launch function checks and joint tests being conducted to ensure its mission readiness.