BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China's postal industry registered steady growth in the first quarter of 2026, with both revenue and delivery volume expanding, according to data released by the State Post Bureau on Wednesday.

A staff member of courier service loads packed eggs onto a vehicle at an egg sorting center in Lengshuitan District of Yongzhou City, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 28, 2025. (File photo: Xinhua)

From January to March, the postal sector generated a total business revenue of 449.27 billion yuan (about 65.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 5.9 percent year on year. Revenue from express delivery services reached 369.02 billion yuan, marking a 6.8 percent increase.

During the same period, the sector handled 51.9 billion parcels, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.5 percent. Of the total, express delivery accounted for 47.73 billion items, up 5.8 percent.

In March alone, postal industry revenue stood at 157.29 billion yuan, up 3.1 percent year on year, while express delivery revenue rose 4.7 percent to 130.47 billion yuan. Parcel volume reached 18.76 billion items, a 2.7 percent increase, including 17.24 billion express deliveries, up 3.5 percent.

China's postal and express delivery sector is seen as a barometer of the country's consumption vitality and economic activity, driven by the continued expansion of e-commerce, improving logistics networks, and growing demand in both urban and rural areas.

Separate latest official data showed the growth rate of retail sales of consumer goods quickened by 0.7 percentage points compared with the last three months of 2025, signaling a consumption recovery as the world's second-largest economy grew 5 percent in the first three months of 2026, outpacing expectations from some foreign institutions.

Regionally, eastern, central, and western China contributed 72.7 percent, 16.2 percent, and 11.1 percent to express delivery revenue, and 68 percent, 21.2 percent, and 10.8 percent to business volume. The eastern region's shares decreased by 1 percentage point in revenue and 3.3 percentage points in volume year on year, while the central and western regions registered growth in both indicators.

China's express delivery network is the world's largest by volume and serves the largest population. It handled nearly 200 billion parcels in 2025, up 13.6 percent year on year, ranking first globally for the 12th consecutive year.

The network can process around 6,000 parcels per second. Advanced technologies enable the smooth flow of such massive volumes through collection, sorting, transportation, and last-mile delivery. Smart warehouses use track-guided handling robots and high-speed lifts for internal operations. Artificial intelligence vision systems enable accurate, high-efficiency sorting, and autonomous vehicles coordinate with couriers at end nodes to ensure efficient distribution.

This expansion of logistics also reflects the country's progress in upgrading its infrastructure. It is underpinned by the world's largest high-speed rail network connecting all regions, the largest highway system serving hundreds of millions of people, and the most extensive 5G coverage that spans both urban and rural areas.