China's express delivery volume ranks 2nd worldwide

BEIJING - China's express delivery volume ranked second in the world after the United States in 2013 with 9.2 billion deliveries made last year, the State Post Bureau announced Monday.

The number was up 60 percent year on year with the largest amount of daily deliveries reaching 65 million. Annual revenue of express deliveries stood at 143 billion yuan ($23 billion) in 2013, up 36 percent year on year, said the bureau.

Ma Junsheng, head of the bureau, said the office will promote competitiveness and the industry's capabilities to achieve the sustained development of the country's express delivery service.

Analysts attributed the growth to booming online shopping which is no longer a privilege for city dwellers, as residents of smaller areas are now spending more cash buying goods on the Internet.

China has the world's biggest online population, with 564 million netizens as of the end of 2012. About 200 million of them regularly buy goods from online shops, making them increasingly reliant on couriers.