Newspaper and Periodical Distribution

In 2000, newspaper and periodical distribution service sustained a continuous and stable growth. The accumulated distribution volume scored 19.722 billion copies. The business turnover from the newspaper and periodical distribution service fulfilled 4.859 billion Yuan RMB, from postal audio-visual products leasing across China 81.07 million Yuan RMB, and from Books 196 million Yuan RMB.The total business revenue amounted to 5.137 billion Yuan RMB, up 1.61% of the set target. The revenue from newspaper and periodical retail and sales reached 1.35 billion Yuan RMB, up 29.22% over the previous year and accounting for 27.78% of the total revenue of newspaper and periodical distribution.According to the statistic, around the country the lump-sum cash flow from subscription and sales of the newspaper and periodical reached 9.79 billion Yuan RMB, an increase of 6.1% over the previous year.

In 2000, the Newspaper and Periodical Distribution Department continued to make great efforts to renew subscription service and supplementary subscription service, and recommended marketable newspaper and periodical at one's own expenses to further explore the market of individual subscription. The great situation of "no downturn in the off seasons" was fundamentally formed in the subscription service. The document about the construction of newspaper and periodical stall in 2000 issued jointly by 6 ministries and commissions contributed to creating a favorable external environment and greatly promoting the construction of newspaper and periodical stall in each province. The 16,500 newspaper and periodical stalls nationwide were added. Endeavors were made to take shape of operation on a large scale in the nationwide postal audio-visual products leasing service in 2000 featured with a large stock of merchandise and a large sales volume.

In 2000, Postal Sectors conscientiously carried out "the regulations of Contracts on newspaper and periodical sent and distributed by Postal Enterprises". The supervision and check of contracts' enforcement were strengthened. Different kinds of service commits were earnestly fulfilled. The signature of those Contracts continuously increased in frequency. The variety of newspaper and periodical handled by Post this year reached 6,604. The variety of those different places for print and distribution increased from 91 in 1997 to 179 in 2000. To meet the need of market competition, the Newspaper and Periodical Distribution Department rearranged the newspaper and periodical distribution order and made great efforts to increase the delivery efficiency. The newspaper and periodical special transportation lines were opened in succession to provide a powerful support to occupy much more market share. The newspaper and periodical delivery service, especially early distribution for those morning newspapers, was greatly improved, variety and scope of early distribution for daily papers much more enlarged.

The progress of science and technology provided powerful support for the development of newspaper and periodical distribution. At the end of the Ninth Five-Year Plan Period, utilization ratio of computers in Provincial Newspaper and Periodical Distribution Bureaus throughout the country came up to 100%, and the Inter-Province network connection rate reached 87%.