China Post representatives said express mail service (EMS) customers living in provincial capitals will have the option of next-day delivery beginning July 1.

The new aviation mail delivery center in Shanghai serves five air routes linking Shanghai with Beijing, Chengdu, Qingdao, Xiamen and Guangzhou.

According to bureau officials, the opening of the center will free China Post from dependence on airlines and hence allow it to deliver mail with greater speed.

The planes will take off every morning about four o'clock, reach their destination cities before seven o'clock, and return to their ports of the departure before 11 o'clock the same day.

The new delivery network will cover 14 provinces. China Post claims it will be able to have over 70 percent of EMS packages sent within those provinces delivered on the next day.

China Post plans to launch another four lines linking Shanghai with Wuhan, Shenyang, Shenzhen and Xi'an soon after it begins deliveries on the first five routes.

According to Zhao Zhongxin, a China Post spokesman, the bureau also plans to increase the number of overnight mail delivery trucks to speed up inter-province EMS delivery.

"The mail delivery process will be further simplified to ensure customers receive EMS mail in the shortest time possible,'' Zhao said.

"China Post is preparing itself to compete with international and domestic express delivery service providers,'' he added.

Zhao explained that China's opening up process is making the express delivery sector increasingly competitive.

United Parcel Service (UPS), the US-based express service giant, recently won the right to send direct flights to China. Its first plane will land in Beijing on April 3.

The company, which now accounts for 5 percent of China's express delivery market, plans to extend its coverage to a total of 120 major Chinese cities this year.

Its biggest US rival, Federal Express (FedEx), controls 10-15 percent of the domestic express mail market and said it aims to expand that share to 35 percent within the next five years.

Besides these foreign giants, a number of domestic private express delivery companies are also beginning to do a brisk business in the big cities. They have used a combination of high quality service and low prices to win over large numbers of new customers.

Combined, these firms have severely threatened China Post's dominance in the express delivery business.

To fight back, China Post is not only working to increase the speed of EMS delivery but is also looking to utilize its 66,000 outlets to become the country's top logistics service provider.

(China Daily 03/29/2001)