In manufacturing, express delivery is deeply embedded in the supply chain. When the assembly line of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd (CNHTC), based in Jinan, Shandong Province, receives an order, an express delivery company one km away receives it simultaneously. The courier staff sort the truck parts and deliver them to the factory plants according to instructions. Thanks to the intervention of the express company, CNHTC's daily production increased from 50 trucks to 80; a mind-boggling 60 percent more trucks rolling out the factory door.
ECONOMIC PROPELLER
It's no surprise that the world's most populous country and second biggest economy should lead world in the absolute number of deliveries, but revenues soared by 42 percent last year to 33 billion U.S. dollars which is a staggering increase.
The booming industry is a direct result of the success of China's e-commerce, with Alibaba Group, the industry leader, setting a record for the largest ever IPO at the New York Stock Exchange last year. Wang Wei, head of SF Express, came from nowhere to rank 26th on the 2014 Forbes China Rich List with wealth of 4.2 billion U.S. dollars.
With almost 6 million workers employed in the industry, China's 8,000-plus express delivery companies have been a lifeline in terms of employment during the economic slowdown.
On average, every Chinese person received more than 10 parcels last year, and that is at a stage in the industry's development when only half of the country is covered by the delivery network. The rest are still relying on snail mail.
The State Post Bureau plans complete universal coverage of all villages and towns with express delivery by 2020.
Parcels delivered to underdeveloped west of China continued to increase during the first quarter and it is the least developed regions that growth is expected to be most awe inspiring.
