As online retail businesses have flourished in recent years, express delivery services have become a vital part of many people’s lives. And as many of those people are now rushing back to their hometowns to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year, the express delivery industry itself is also taking a break.
As reported by Southern Metropolis Daily (SMD), most express delivery company branches in Guangzhou have already stopped accepting new packages, and will suspend shipping beginning January 20.
SMD talks to a Mr. Fan, who heads the Haizhu branch of Yunda Express, which stopped accepting packages destined for the northeast or northwest of China on January 15, with yesterday the last day it would accept mail to Jiangsu or Zhejiang province, Shanghai or anywhere within Guangdong during the holiday period.
“We stopped offering pick-up service earlier than we did last year, so that our warehouse won’t become overloaded again,” Fan said, adding that “We will try to have all mail delivered before Chinese New Year this time.”
Similarly, Shentong Express also stopped accepting parcels this week, but says that it will still deliver orders during the holiday, albeit more more slowly. Other express delivery companies plans to continue to provide pick-up services in certain CBD areas.
Among those is Yuantong, a spokesperson for which has said that mail pick-up fees have gone up as high as three times the normal price, or approximately 45 RMB per item. The company says that the higher fees are to cover costs for air mail transport, the only channel open throughout the holiday. Even so, Fan says, arrival times still can’t be guaranteed.
The only two express delivery businesses which explicitly state that all services will continue as normal during the holiday are Shunfeng Express and China Post EMS.
SMD also talks to a customer service representative with Shunfeng Express, who says that all deliveries during the official New Year holiday will be given an added charge of 10 RMB to compensate for overtime costs, and that deliveries will be delaye by between 4-7 days.
