Delivering more parcels while earning less from each was once the clearest illustration of the cutthroat competition – known locally as “involution” – plaguing China’s express delivery sector.
China’s express delivery parcel volume rose 13.6% in 2025 to 198.95 billion, while average revenue per parcel fell 6.3% year-on-year to about 7.51 yuan ($1.11). That trend has begun to change this year. Data from the State Post Bureau showed parcel volume rose 5.2% in the first five months of 2026 to 82.87 billion, while revenue increased 7.2% to 635.37 billion yuan. That implies average revenue per parcel edged up about 1.9% to 7.67 yuan. In May alone, revenue grew 9.5%, easily outpacing a 5.7% increase in parcel volume and implying a roughly 3.6% rise in revenue per parcel.