Parcels are sorted on the belts at a sorting center of Bpost, the Belgian postal service, in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 26, 2020. Belgium is currently under strict lockdown measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, as all non-essential businesses are closed. As the Black Friday and Christmas season approaches, Bpost faces increasing amount of parcels due to the rising demand of e-commerce.Photo:Xinhua

China’s parcel collection volume between December 1 and 12 surpassed 4.3 billion items, up 5.6 percent year-on-year, the State Post Bureau (SPB) said on Tuesday via its official WeChat account, noting that the country’s post sector is seeing a surge in orders as the recovery being accelerated.
 
The cold weather conditions and pandemic flareups may cause some delays, but the SPB appealed to consumers to be understanding.
 
The SPB said the parcel collection volume on December 12, known as the “Double 12” shopping festival, reached 453 million items, similar to the same day in 2021. Since the newly issued 20 measures for epidemic control were released on December 7, the average parcel collection volume has been over 360 million pieces.
 
As of Sunday, all distribution centers nationwide have resumed deliveries except about 400 distribution centers in Beijing, and relevant authorities are accelerating the recovery of the suspended sites.
 
The SPB noted that the current delivery congestion had been caused by backlogged virus-affected delivery orders. In addition, the employee shortage at delivery companies also increased the pressure on the delivery side.
 
Multiple delivery companies have extended the delivery times and are now delivering at night. They have also formed special teams to recruit new staff, while adjusting delivery capacity to accelerate the recovery, said the SPB.
 
Global Times