China's logistics revenue surges in 2014

A courier en route to deliver packages in Beiing, Oct 11, 2014. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - The revenue of China's logistics sector rose 6.9 percent year on year in 2014, driven by the online retail sales boom, new data showed on Friday.

The total revenue of the sector topped 7.1 trillion yuan ($1.16 trillion) last year, according to a joint statement by the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing.

The total value of goods transported by logistics services in 2014 increased 7.9 percent year on year to 213.5 trillion yuan, according to the statement. The growth rate was 1.6 percentage points lower than in 2013.

The slowdown was consistent with the pace of GDP, which registered a slower growth rate of 7.3 percent in 2014.

China's online sales of consumer goods, which are considered to be a boon to logistics as more and more people choose to shop online, soared 49.7 percent to 2.79 trillion yuan in 2014 from the previous year.