Two YTO Express couriers cheer each other up before they go to work in Fuyang, Anhui province.(Photo: China Daily/Wang Biao)
Profile of a delivery courier
Age: 20 - 30
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Rural areas
Monthly salary: 2,001 - 6,000 yuan ($307-922)
Number in China: 1.183 million
What does a domestic delivery man look like? A report shows that a most-likely deliveryman is a countryman aged between 20 to 30 years old.
The first-ever Report on Third-Party Logistics Workers for China's E-commerce Industry was jointly released by Beijing Jiaotong University, AliResearch (a research institute affiliated with Alibaba group) and Cainiao Network (a nation-wide logistics and supply chain platform), on Thursday. The report does not include logistics workers employed by e-commerce companies themselves, like self-run couriers for JD.com
According to the report, the number of logistics employees has reached 2.033 million, with 1.183 million being deliverymen, with others being warehouse managers, parcel sorters, administrators, etc.
Previously media revealed that a deliveryman could get a monthly salary as high as up to 10,000 yuan ($1,537), with even some driving SUVs to deliver goods.
Smashing the illusions, the report shows that 53.4 percent earn a monthly salary of between 2,001 to 4,000 yuan, 28.6 percent 4001-6000 yuan, and only a few earn more than 8,000 yuan.
Of all the logistics employees, about 80 percent are from the countryside.
The report also points out that more than 70 regions across the country still impose a ban on electric bikes and tricycles, which are primary working vehicles for deliverymen. The ban makes their work harder, leading to a wave of job quitting.
Shortly after controversial bans in some cities caused heated discussion, National Post and delivery authority have recently released a draft of technical requirements, a national compulsory standard, for electric tricycles used by delivery companies for public review.
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.
China aims to nearly quadruple the revenues of its express delivery market by 2020 to reach a target annual revenue of 800 billion yuan ($126 billion) by 2020, according to a policy document released by the State Council, China's cabinet, in Oct. It should also create 200,000 new jobs every year.
