'Stay-put' Spring Festival fuels package boom in China

BEIJING — China's courier companies have witnessed a package boom during the Spring Festival as millions have stayed put for the annual holiday.

On Thursday and Friday, the first two days of the week-long Spring Festival holiday, Chinese express delivery firms handled some 130 million parcels, up 223 percent year on year, showed data from the State Post Bureau.

Ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, an important occasion for family reunions that usually sees mass human migration across the country, Chinese authorities had advised migrant workers and residents to stay put to stem the spread of COVID-19.

To make up for the loss of family gatherings, holiday parties and get-togethers, many have chosen to send "gift parcels" or make purchases online for their families and friends far away, giving rise to logistics demand.

The government has pledged to guarantee sufficient supplies of daily necessities and asked e-commerce platforms and logistics companies to ensure normal operation during the period.

As of Sunday, China's express delivery firms had dispatched 10 billion parcels domestically in just 38 days this year, creating a new record.

The spell is much shorter than the 80 days in 2020 and 79 days in 2019, said the State Post Bureau.

The express delivery sector is expected to handle 95.5 billion parcels in 2021, up 15 percent year on year, the bureau forecast in January.