Combined with 200 parcel handing centers and some 57,000 postal outlets, the large fleet will make China Post the country's largest logistics service provider.

Logistics services, an increasingly important part of courier operations worldwide, include not only the rapid delivery services that overnight couriers are well-known for, but the management of warehouse operations and equipment repairs, processing of orders and payments and other financial services on behalf of and in conjunction with hundreds of companies and their customers.

Multinational companies, emerging enterprises and chain stores would be the main target customers of China Post's expanding B2B and B2C logistics services.

China Post's revenue has been growing at an annual rate of 18 per cent in recent years. In 2001, it posted revenues of over 47 billion yuan, or almost 6 billion US dollars.

(cri.com October 15, 2002)