A courier en route to deliver packages in Beiing, Oct 11, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Economic propeller

It's no surprise that the world's most populous country and second biggest economy should lead world in the absolute number of deliveries, but revenues soared by 42 percent last year to $33 billion which is a staggering increase.

The booming industry is a direct result of the success of China's e-commerce, with Alibaba Group, the industry leader, setting a record for the largest ever IPO at the New York Stock Exchange last year. Wang Wei, head of SF Express, came from nowhere to rank 26th on the 2014 Forbes China Rich List with wealth of 4.2 billion U.S. dollars.

With almost 6 million workers employed in the industry, China's 8,000-plus express delivery companies have been a lifeline in terms of employment during the economic slowdown.

On average, every Chinese person received more than 10 parcels last year, and that is at a stage in the industry's development when only half of the country is covered by the delivery network. The rest are still relying on snail mail.

The State Post Bureau plans complete universal coverage of all villages and towns with express delivery by 2020.

Parcels delivered to underdeveloped west of China continued to increase during the first quarter and it is the least developed regions that growth is expected to be most awe inspiring.