China Expands Rural Parcel Deliveries Across Remote Western Villages

A targeted pilot program by China's State Post Bureau and China Post Group has brought parcel delivery services to an additional 2,244 administrative villages across 17 pilot counties as of late July. Launched in January to address logistical challenges in remote central and western regions, the initiative relies on China Post's universal service network as a public backstop. By integrating passenger, freight, and postal transit while connecting digital tracking data with commercial couriers, the program has reached 94% of its initial village-coverage target, boosting rural delivery capacity and laying the groundwork for logistics integration under the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan.

Rural parcel logistics are essential infrastructure for stimulating rural consumption and supporting agricultural revitalization. In sparsely populated central and western areas, high per-parcel delivery costs have long discouraged purely commercial courier firms from establishing last-mile infrastructure. Utilizing state-owned postal infrastructure as a universal backstop guarantees basic public service access for remote residents while smoothing bidirectional trade between industrial consumer goods and rural agricultural products.

A targeted logistics pilot has added 2,244 administrative villages across 17 pilot counties to parcel delivery networks as of late July, state media reported following a progress review by the State Post Bureau and China Post Group. The "express delivery to villages" postal backstop pilot, initiated in January, is designed to resolve persistent last-mile delivery bottlenecks in remote rural areas across central and western China. In these regions, long transit distances and elevated per-parcel operating costs have historically deterred private commercial express firms from maintaining regular service. According to data released at an on-site meeting by the State Post Bureau, the pilot has achieved 94% of its target for village-level coverage across the 17 designated counties, with cooperative parcel volume rising 217% compared to pre-pilot levels. To establish this network, China Post Group instructed 2,062 county-level branch offices nationwide to formulate tailored local strategies. The group allocated a 210 million yuan investment plan, including 21.23 million yuan in dedicated construction funds for the 17 pilot counties. These investments raised the motorized delivery vehicle rate in the pilot zones from 62% to 97%. In addition, the initiative expanded integrated passenger-freight-postal transport networks, adding 1,124 cooperative transit routes with local transportation companies (reaching a total of 7,534 routes) and adding 5,162 shared transit hubs (bringing total multiplexed stations to 48,952). To address digital monitoring gaps, the project established direct data connections between China Post, commercial delivery firms, and e-commerce platforms, enabling end-to-end parcel tracking from dispatch to final delivery. Chen Kai, deputy director of the State Post Bureau, noted that deepening delivery access through the universal postal service network strengthens rural economic circulation. Looking ahead to the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period, Chen indicated that universal postal services would expand beyond baseline delivery to integrate with broader national governance, public service, and emergency response frameworks. Postal authorities stated they plan to synthesize the pilot's outcomes and systematically extend the rural delivery logistics framework throughout central and western regions.