Chinese Express Couriers Shift to Profit Growth Driven by Automation

Major Chinese courier companies recorded sharp profit rebounds in the first half of the year, with bottom-line growth outpacing parcel volume expansion. Nationwide parcel volume surpassed 100 billion items, up 5 percent year-on-year, while total industry revenue grew 7.3 percent to exceed 770 billion yuan, marking the first time six-month revenue growth has exceeded volume growth. Backed by automated sorting, driverless vehicles, and artificial intelligence tools, carriers are beginning to transition away from protracted price wars toward operational cost reductions.

China's express delivery sector has long been defined by fierce price wars that compressed margins despite soaring e-commerce volumes. The first-half results provide preliminary evidence of an earnings inflection point, showing that margin expansion can be achieved through efficiency gains rather than aggressive discounting.

China's express delivery sector saw a notable divergence between profit and volume growth in the first half of the year, as major logistics firms reaped financial rewards from widespread digital and automated operational upgrades, according to official data and corporate filings cited by Xinhua. Nationwide parcel volume reached more than 100 billion pieces in the first half, representing a 5 percent increase year-on-year. Over the same period, industry revenues rose 7.3 percent to exceed 770 billion yuan ($108 billion). The performance marked the first time half-year revenue growth outstripped parcel volume growth, pointing to a potential shift away from prolonged price-based competition. Interim financial disclosures reflect this dynamic across major carriers. Direct-model operator SF Express reported a 0.2 percent uptick in parcel volume alongside a 9.3 percent rise in non-GAAP net profit attributable to parent shareholders. Franchise networks saw even sharper earnings increases: YTO Express and STO Express expanded parcel volumes by 9.5 percent and 15.8 percent respectively, while YTO, STO, and Yunda each recorded net profit growth exceeding 70 percent. Cost-cutting at the individual package level drove the margin expansion. In the first half, ZTO Express reduced combined per-parcel sorting and transit costs by 0.04 yuan. YTO reported per-parcel transit costs of 0.36 yuan and sorting center operational costs of 0.26 yuan, with both metrics falling by 0.01 yuan compared to the prior-year period. At Yunda, per-parcel expenses dropped 7.46 percent, generating over 100 million yuan in combined savings across transit, sorting, customer care, and risk management. Yu Rao, a senior engineer at the State Post Bureau's Development Research Center, attributed the broad earnings gains to the realization of earlier digital investments, highlighting robotics, autonomous transport, and artificial intelligence as primary drivers. Carriers expanded physical and algorithmic automation across networks. In Sichuan province's Zizhong County, JD Logistics deployed a rural drone network covering 131 villages. At Guangzhou Postal District's Jianggao sorting center, eight humanoid robots sorted items alongside staff at an efficiency of up to 800 parcels per hour. In Shenzhen, SF Express deployed autonomous vans on night routes, scaling to nearly 200 unmanned vehicles across more than 300 routes. Software improvements also contributed to lower overhead. YTO's algorithmic route-planning agent saved nearly 90 million yuan in operating costs during the half-year period. ZTO Chief Technology Officer Yang Wen reported that intelligent automated customer service now resolves over 60 percent of common inquiries independently, processing approximately 90 percent of merchant tickets and 70 percent of recipient inquiries.