(Yicai Global) Dec. 1 -- Jinhua, home to Yiwu, the world’s small commodities capital, has sent and received the most packages by express courier services for the third year in a row, according to State Post Bureau figures. The prefecture-level city in the eastern province of Zhejiang surpassed Guangzhou in 2020.

Jinhua, Guangzhou, Jieyang, and Dongguan are the only cities in the top 10 to maintain annual growth in express delivery volumes since the emergence of Covid-19, according to the data released yesterday. Shantou in Guangdong province made the list for the first time this year. Beijing and Chengdu dropped out of the top 10 in 2019.

Declining volumes have been mainly the result of less-efficient logistics and some merchants being unable to deliver goods at a time of Covid-19 restrictions, industry expert Zhao Xiaomin told Yicai Global.

The express delivery sector was expected to grow between 5.5 percent and 6 percent this year, but that now seems impossible, Zhao said. October saw the first annual drop in volumes, he said, adding that the situation has improved in the past week on the previous seven days.

A number of Chinese express delivery firms, including Yunda Holding and SF Holding, have halted operations at some of their outlets because of the impact of sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks in the country, Yicai Global reported yesterday.

The annual peak season for express deliveries starts at the end of October and ends with the Chinese New Year holidays between January and February, Zhao said.

The Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions as well as Shandong and Henan provinces are e-commerce hubs. Troubles in the logistics of one of these regions affects the sending and delivery of parcels across China.

An employee at a courier company said its key hubs and cities are consistent with the cities with the highest business volume on the State Post Bureau’s list, so when the business volume rankings change, express delivery companies may need to adapt.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev