(Yicai Global) May 11 -- China Post Group Corp., the nation's state-run mail service, plans to use new-energy vehicles for all of its delivery vans by 2020 under a new 'green post' initiative.

The Beijing-based firm will also push to use digital waybills for 90 percent of deliveries, use more degradable packaging materials and dish out more service loans for eco-friendly projects, state-owned news agency Xinhua reported, citing General Manager Li Guohua. The company hopes to fulfill its new green image within the next three years.

China Post already uses reusable postbags and has slashed disposable bag use by 100 million a year in a bid to become more environmentally friendly. It has also trialed new-energy vehicles and electric tricycles in some cities, and has invested CNY100 billion (USD16 billion) to better use data and make deliveries more efficient.

The group's bank, Postal Savings Bank of China Co., plans to grant more loans in the renewable energy field, including green transport and equipment making. It had an outstanding balance of CNY180 billion in such loans by the end of last year. The lender also penned a deal with China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group Corp., a state-owned green investment unit, to issue more loans for emissions reduction and pollution control in smog-dogged Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Editor: James Boynton