Delivery men from SF Express sort parcels at a branch in Beijing on November 12, 2021. Data from the State Post Bureau showed that from November 1 to 11, postal and express delivery companies across the country handled 4.77 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of more than 20 percent. Among them, 696 million express parcels were processed on November 11, a new high. Photo: cnsphoto

Several delivery companies have vowed that they will not suspend services during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays in a bid to meet customers' demand, and they also pledged to subsidize their front-line employees during that period. 

E-commerce giant JD.com said on Friday there will be more than 200,000 front-line employees to ensure that consumers in 30 provinces, more than 300 cities, and nearly 1,500 districts and counties across the country can place orders and receive goods normally even on New Year's Eve.

SF Express told the Global Times on Friday that during the Spring Festival holidays, it will continue to provide services in 31 provinces and municipalities, 337 prefecture-level cities, and 2,747 districts and counties, and it will focus on 110 key core cities to ensure next-day delivery.

The company has not stopped services during festivals for 15 years, and this year, there will be another nearly 20,000 staffers, and the number of employees on the front-line will reach 380,000, according to SF Express. 

Other players, such as ZTO Express, Yunda Express, Shentong Express, and J&T Express all announced similar services. 

China's e-commerce and express delivery industry has developed rapidly. Official data showed that from January to November 2021, the country's national express delivery business volume exceeded 90 billion pieces, reaching a new high.

During the November 11 shopping spree period from November 1 to 16, the express delivery business volume reached 6.8 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 6.8 billion, up 18.2 percent year-on-year. And it is widely believed that this trend will continue during the Spring Festival period. 

In addition, a number of express delivery companies said that they will provide subsidies to front-line employees who continue to work during the Spring Festival holidays.

ZTO Express said that it will provide incentive policies and welfare guarantees for front-line employees who continue to work to ensure stable service quality. Cainiao, a logistics affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding said it will provide more than 300 million yuan ($47 million) in incentive subsidies, which will be directly distributed to frontline employees.

For employees working during the Spring Festival, SF Express said it will provide an exclusive incentive of 300 million yuan to thank them for their contributions. In addition, SF President Wang Wei has prepared 25 million red envelopes for the staffers as usual this year.

Global Times