Two students open courier delivery firm

Two enterprising students have launched a successful courier delivery services company at their school, a higher vocational college in Jining, East China's Shandong province.

After borrowing seed money from their family, Liu Guangfei, 20, and Zhang Cong, 22 opened their delivery shop on September 9. Since then the business has broke even and its more than 10 employees serve 80 percent of teachers and students at Shandong Career Development College.

Liu, a sophomore, majors in logistics management. Partner Zhang majors in marketing management.

Their 90-square-meter Fengchi courier shop helps them receive and dispatch packages for customers of Chinese mainland delivery companies like EMS, Zhongtong and Shentong.

"There are over 100 delivery companies in Jining," said college dean Chen Guomin. "It's an ideal way to establish an express delivery supermarket like a living supermarket."

The "supermarket" concept of the business was "convenient and efficient for faculty staff and students," Chen said, "and also gives an opportunity to nurture students' business incubator abilities."

The new company had also eased pressure on the college's poorer students, he noted.

With a population of 8.3 million, the prefecture-level city has seen a growing express industry.

The number of people employed by courier companies had increased to more than 10,000 people this year, from 3,000 last year, an unnamed postal administration marketing bureau official told the Jinan-based Qilu Evening News.