A deliveryman is delivering packages to residents in a community in Chaoyang district, Beijing on December 15, 2022. Photo: VCG

Chinese government agencies and leading express firms have taken a variety of measures to ensure smooth logistics and last-mile delivery amid surging COVID-19 cases and the peak delivery season before the Chinese New Year, with delivery services across the country expected to return to normalcy by the end of the year.

Thousands of couriers from various regions across the country, including Shanghai, South China's Guangdong Province and East China's Fujian Province, have arrived in Beijing to help handle the backlog of parcels.

Nearly 2,000 JD Logistics couriers have recently arrived in Beijing from across China to support last-mile delivery in the country's capital city. The company has stepped up delivery at night to ensure that urgently needed drugs, maternal and child products, and fresh goods could be promptly sent to customers, JD.com told the Global Times.

In addition, about 100 self-driving vehicles are joining efforts to offer contact-less last-mile delivery, managing the transition between compounds and delivery stations, and also delivering medicines overnight in collaboration with JD Health. 

JD-backed delivery platform Dada is also making efforts to optimize delivery capacity by recruiting and activating more crowd-sourcing riders by giving incentives and additional allowances, according to JD.com.

Nearly 400 outlets of SF Express and six major transfer stations in Beijing have been operating normally, and the attendance rate has reached about 85 percent, according to a note SF Express sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

Yunda Express, another leading logistics firm, has taken similar measures at its outlets across the country. It told the Global Times that the company has dispatched vans to East China's Shandong Province to help relieve transport pressure at some outlets while increasing compensation to hire more temporary workers for surging parcel volumes.

Official data showed that the country's cargo activity remained at a high level on Monday, with railway shipments growing by 0.4 percent compared with the previous day to 10.82 million tons of goods and road shipments jumping 12.21 percent to 6.65 million trucks. The number of parcels collected on Monday was 267 million, while about 285 million parcels were delivered on Monday.

Reminding consumers of possible parcel delays during the next few weeks, the Shanghai Municipal Postal Administration said on Tuesday that it has asked express firms in the city to adopt a variety of measures, including appropriately adjusting delivery capacity and deploying human and other resources to smoothly get through the peak season and withstand the test of the epidemic, according to a statement on the agency's website.

The efforts taken by firms and local governments came after the State Council, China's cabinet, also urged efforts to improve logistics, solve the backlog of packages and smooth distribution for medicines, epidemic prevention supplies and daily necessities, according to a notice issued by the logistics protection work group under the State Council on December 15.

The notice encouraged express firms to grant allowances and overtime pay to couriers to extend their distribution time and range.

Emergency plans should be improved, and reserves of postal delivery personnel and materials should be strengthened to ensure that delivery services are not interrupted, it stressed.

He Hui, assistant president of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the shortage of delivery workers is temporary, and it could be solved before the Chinese New Year as more couriers are returning to their jobs.

"However, there will be a transition period before the industry recovers to normalcy, and thus express firms need to expand their staff," He said.

A manager surnamed Meng at a YTO Express outlet in Beijing told the Global Times on Tuesday that recruitment is being stepped up, as some couriers may go back to their hometowns for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

"There is a sufficient number of parcels, and those that are hard-working are able to earn 15,000 yuan ($2,151) per month and even more," he said, noting that he hopes to hire those who are willing to start working as soon as possible.