China's stay in place orders across the 2021 Spring Festival have led to delivery demands to explode nationwide, with 660 million parcels being collected and delivered either by post or by express from February 11 to 17, up 260 percent on yearly basis, according to an article posted by China's State Post Bureau on Thursday.
The surging delivery came after China implemented efforts to discourage people from travelling during the week-long Spring Festival, normally a peak time for migrant workers to return back to home, however after several clusters of the coronavirus pandemic appeared ahead of the festival ringing alarm bells among epidemiologists and officials, who went to lengths to prevent a massive outbreak of the pandemic like around last year's Spring Festival holiday.
According to data provided by the State Post Bureau, parcel collection surged by 359 percent year-on-year in central China, while delivery rose by 260 percent, the fastest growth among all regions in the country. Parcel delivery and collection also surged above 300 percent from one year earlier in certain provinces like South China's Guangdong and East China's Zhejiang.
The surge in delivery was also a result of many logistics companies' uninterrupted work during the Spring Festival, as many domestic workers were encouraged to continue working for the holiday.
The aforementioned article also noted that a number of delivery companies including SF Express and ZTO Express have continued to provide delivery services during the holiday.
During this year's Spring Festival, the majority of delivery parcels were food, agricultural products and gifts, and the proportion of e-commerce parcels had surged compared with the same period last year.
"This is a reflection of the strength of China's online consumption, and shows that express delivery has now become a common practice," said Wang Feng, director of the post safety center under the State Post Bureau.
