Express Mail Service (EMS)
China Post launched the international and domestic EMS services in 1980 and 1984 respectively, and a relatively well-organized service system and delivery network has been formed. Up to now, 16,000 self-run postal outlets in almost 2,000 cities are engaged in the EMS business and have established business relations with more than 200 countries and regions, making the EMS reaching out all over the world. China Post EMS has 10,000 plus staff, 170,000 square meters of processing site, 6,000 plus vehicles and 10,000 sets of equipment. In 2003, faced with heated market competition, China Post readjusted its EMS policy, paid greater attention to business expansion in key regions, developed new products, continued to improve service and maintained relatively high growth rate. The annual EMS volume stood at 170 million items, up 22.8% over the previous year. The total EMS revenue reached RMB 5.15 billion yuan, increasing by 5.4% than the previous year, accounting for 9.8% of the total postal revenue.
In 2003, the EMS of China Post was expanded to cover the delivery of ID cards, passports, admission notice of national entrance examination, financial bills and legal documents. At present, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have developed the single license business, with the revenue increasing by 50% on a year-on-year basis. In addition, the Next Morning Delivery service in the Yangtze River Delta opened on December 8, 2003 has achieved good results and has been formally put into operation on January 8, 2004.
The cooperation on international EMS between China Post and other Posts and non-postal companies have made major achievements. China Post participated in the evaluation system linking quality with efficiency
promoted by the EMS cooperation agency of UPU and has been certified by the agency. It cooperated with the Posts of Japan, South Korea, the US, Australia and Hong Kong in promoting the informatization of its EMS service. In terms of cooperation with non-postal organizations, China Post joined hands with Zhonghua EMS Company, of which Taiwan Post is a shareholder to launch the Taiwan Express Delivery service, expanding the delivery channel between the mainland and Taiwan. The China Express Service provided by China Post and TNT jointly enabled the direct dispatch of express mail from Beijing and Shanghai to Europe.
