China's express delivery volume surges for 28th month

Express delivery volume soared more than 50 percent for the 28th consecutive month, according to China Federation of Logistics &Purchasing data Tuesday.

More than 3.84 billion deliveries were made in the first half of 2013, representing an annual growth of 60.6 percent in volume, according to the data.

The information also showed the express delivery industry posted a revenue of 62.98 billion yuan (10.2 billion US dollars) in the first six months, up 34.5 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts attributed the sustained growth to booming online shopping which is no longer exclusively for city dwellers, as residents of smaller areas are now spending more cash buying goods on the Internet.

People living in counties and townships each spent an average of 5,628 yuan online in 2012, almost 1,000 yuan more than their urban counterparts, according to a report released last week by Taobao, China's leading online shopping website.

However, the country's logistics sector saw slower growth in the first half, according to federation figures.

The logistics industry reported a 9.1-percent rise in the total value of goods transported in the first half of the year. The growth rate slowed by 0.3 percentage point from the first quarter, and decreased by 0.9 percentage point compared to the same period last year, figures showed.

The federation said that a sluggish shipping industry due to gloomy international trade and overcapacity in the commodities logistics sector were among the factors slowing the sector's growth.