Professor Yang Canming, President and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee;
Director of Innovation and Talent Base for Income Distribution and Public Finance at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL)
The 2024 Report on the Work of the Government elaborates on this year's tasks in various fields, highlighting the task of "pursuing rural development initiatives", and giving priority to strengthening cold chain logistics and building courier delivery facilities. Rural courier delivery logistics serve as a vital link connecting urban and rural production and consumption. More than 100 million express parcels circulate daily within rural areas nationwide. Therefore, improving the construction of courier delivery facilities is conducive to reinforcing the foundation for the flow of urban and rural resource elements, enhancing the industry's capacity for free circulation, and broadening the two-way circulation channels of industrial products to rural areas and agricultural ones to cities. This plays a significant role in stimulating the vitality of the rural market, smoothing the connection between production and consumption, and better serving the major strategy of rural revitalization.
The express delivery industry in China originated from the deregulation of the country's monopoly over the postal service, and it has grown alongside the sustained increase in online shopping demands. Since the establishment of China's first private express delivery company in 1993, over 430,000 various express business outlets have been set up nationwide, with a cumulative total of 1,267 county-level public courier delivery centers and 289,000 village-level express service stations, basically achieving full coverage of courier delivery networks in rural areas. Despite considerable improvements in the rural courier delivery logistics infrastructure in recent years, there are still pressing challenges, including inadequate last-mile service capability, issues with sustainability, and fragile infrastructure, all of which fall short of public expectations.
To strengthen the construction of last-mile delivery infrastructure, one measure is to carry forward with the reforms to streamline administration and delegate power, enhance regulation, and upgrade services in the courier delivery sector while continuously optimizing the business environment. First, we need to remove irrational and unnecessary local restrictions, simplify the registration procedures for last-mile express delivery outlets in rural areas, and promote the implementation of online record filing and procedures that don't require offline handling at all. Second, it is essential to enhance supervision and establish regulatory departments for the logistics and express delivery industry, while improving and completing the regulatory mechanisms at the county level for the express delivery industry. At the same time, it is also imperative to resolutely rectify the issue of non-compliant charging practices in rural express delivery services. Currently, some regions still face problems with illegal charges, which requires relevant national departments to intensify their enforcement efforts to protect consumers' legal rights genuinely, create a fair market environment, and maintain the stable development of the express delivery sector.
The other measure is to establish a high-quality rural courier delivery logistics system and innovate cooperative models. First and foremost, there is considerable potential to reduce rural logistics costs, which requires a combined effort of both government and market supply. This includes enhancing the last-mile shared delivery model and integrating existing resources in rural areas, such as postal services, courier services, transportation, supply and marketing cooperatives, and commercial circulation. Examples include collaborations between China Post and private express logistics firms and among these firms. In doing so, we can achieve the objectives of combining multiple stations into one, servicing with a single network, and reducing costs while increasing efficiency. Second, we need to reinforce the construction of county-level distribution centers, township outlets, and comprehensive courier delivery logistics service stations at the village level, continuously improving the courier delivery logistics infrastructure for these three levels. Coordination and cooperation across sorting, transport, and last-mile stages can enhance resource sharing and reduce logistics costs. Hence, fortifying the construction of courier delivery distribution facilities requires local administrations and grassroots organizations to enhance their collaboration, better utilize existing infrastructure, promote the integration and utilization of resources, and thus steadily advance the all-round rural revitalization.