Cargo is loaded onto an aircraft of SF Airlines, China's largest air cargo carrier, at the Hangzhou International Airport in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on March 25. (Photo via China Daily)

Express delivery services in Zhejiang province handled 10 billion parcels over the first eight months of this year, representing a 29-percent year-on-year increase, according to the Zhejiang Provincial Postal Administration.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the number of express parcels delivered in the province in January and February dropped by 19.7 percent and 7.5 percent year-on-year, respectively. However, delivery services rebounded in Zhejiang in March and saw exponential growth in May, as the monthly express delivery volume surpassed the volume in November 2019. November is the annual peak month for delivery services due to the Double Eleven shopping spree.

According to a joint survey by the Zhejiang Provincial Postal Administration and the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Statistics, every yuan earned from express delivery services indicates 7.8 yuan and 2.68 yuan revenues from the online retail and consumer product manufacturing sectors, respectively. To date this year, 1.4 trillion yuan ($205.1 billion) in goods sold online have been shipped via express delivery.

Chen Kai, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Postal Administration, said that express delivery is like a blood vessel, as it is vital to the proper functioning of an economy. Chen predicts that Zhejiang will post at least 15 billion express delivery parcels in 2020 as the economy recovers and a number of e-commerce shopping festivals are held in the upcoming months.

(Edited by Ye Ke)