Express service offers Chinese rural people new lifestyle

Staff members of ZTO Express load a truck with produce in Linyi County of Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi Province, Sept. 27, 2020. (Xinhua)

For years, China has widely set up express service spots and offered logistics services in rural areas, providing a modern lifestyle for the villagers.

Jia Xiaofeng, 58, finally no longer has to worry about difficulties receiving express delivery.

Living in Xiaotunzhuang Village, Yangqu County, north China's Shanxi Province, Jia frequently receives parcels sent by his son who works in Beijing, which is about 500 kilometers away.

The son's goodwill was a "sweet burden" for the aged man as he had to go to the town to fetch packages, which is 5 kilometers away from his home in the village.

Besides the long distance, the fruits and fresh goods could easily spoil when they were not retrieved in time.

However, with the completion of the new express delivery site in the village, Jia does not need to worry anymore. "Now the courier delivers the goods directly to my door."

The city of Taiyuan, where Jia's village belongs, has gradually accelerated the pace of the program "packages into villages." The country's major express companies have extended their services to 636 villages in the city, according to the city's postal administration.

The express service centers not only facilitate villagers to receive deliveries but also provide more convenient logistics services for e-commerce in rural areas.

Zhang Xin is a grower in Beishe Village. He makes a living in the e-commerce business.

During the harvest seasons, the courier would come directly to his home to collect agricultural products and send them to his customers.

"Before the express service spots were built, the millet we planted could only be sold to wholesalers. Now the couriers pick up the products right at my door and transport directly to customers," Zhang said.

Without a middleman, Zhang's income has increased by 30 percent compared with before.

The evolving express service network effectively connects farmers with the market, boosting both the supply and demand of farm products, and is of great significance to promoting rural revitalization.

At the just-concluded "two sessions," the government work report said that China will strengthen county-level commercial systems and develop e-commerce and express delivery services in rural areas, aiming to promote all-round rural vitalization.

It is the ninth consecutive year since 2014 that the government work report has mentioned the express industry.

The data from the Shanxi provincial management center of ZTO Express shows that the business volume in rural areas in the province increased significantly from January to February this year. The growth rate is about 50 percent higher than that of the urban area.

Since September 2020, express delivery carts have been rolled into villages in Yangqu County, allowing rural residents to receive and send parcels without leaving home.

With the emergence of express services, villagers who seldom use the Internet have started learning to shop online.

"At present, our express service covers more than 60 villages in the county, including 17 remote ones," said Zhou Zijian, manager of the Yangqu County branch of ZTO Express.

"We will further optimize routes into the village and reduce logistics costs in the future, so as to allow more rural residents to enjoy the same express delivery services like that in urban areas," Zhou said.