(Yicai) Jan. 22 -- The per-delivery income of couriers fell last year as Chinese delivery companies continued their price competition, lowering parcel fees.

In some Chinese cities, couriers are paid only between 50 Chinese cents to 60 Chinese cents (7 US cents to 8 US cents) per order, Wang Li, the owner of a franchise express network's station, told Yicai. This way, deliverymen earn about CNY200 (USD28) per day if they complete 400 orders, which is exhausting, Wang added.

A courier in Beijing's Chaoyang district told Yicai that he will consider quitting if the per-delivery income continues to decline. "If the income drops by 10 more Chinese cents, I need to deliver 100 more parcels to keep the same income," the person added. “But delivering over 300 packages is really tiring.”

The main reason behind the slump in per-delivery income is the fierce price competition Chinese express delivery firms started to gain an advantage against their rivals. For example, STO Express reported that its single-parcel income fell to CNY2.18 (31 US cents) from CNY2.70 throughout last year, hitting CNY2.10 in August, the lowest since September 2021.

While delivery fees slumped, China's postal industry's business revenue and delivery volume significantly increased.

Some 132 billion parcels were delivered in China last year, up nearly 20 percent from the year before, according to data released by the State Post Bureau today. The industry's revenue rose 15 percent to CNY1.2 trillion (USD168.6 billion) in the period, with the figure expected to jump 8 percent this year.

Delivery fees will continue to fall this year as e-commerce merchants remain sensitive to prices, impacted by the overall economic situation, Wang predicted.

Editors: Xu Wei, Futura Costaglione