Logistics expansion reaches the “last mile”

Recently, eight departments, including the Ministry of Commerce and the State Post Bureau, issued the “Notice on Accelerating the Integration of County‑, Township‑, and Village‑Level E‑Commerce Systems with Express Delivery and Logistics Distribution Networks.” The notice calls for upgrading and renovating a number of county‑level logistics and distribution centers, promoting the consolidation of express delivery and logistics resources at the county level, establishing a number of demonstration zones for coordinated development between rural e‑commerce and express delivery, and enhancing public parcel‑delivery and logistics service capabilities, with the goal of achieving… By 2025, in areas where conditions permit, the goal will be to ensure that every county has a central facility, every township has a service outlet, and every village has access to services.

These past few days, Xu Feng, a farmer living in Baoding, Hebei Province, has run into a minor annoyance: “Online shopping has been widespread for years. I often scroll through short videos and place orders online to buy things that aren’t available in our village. But recently, when I tried to buy some trendy ice cream for my child, I found it couldn’t be delivered here—because the cold-chain logistics can’t keep up, and the sellers don’t ship to rural areas.”

Xu Feng’s experience highlights the shortcomings of the county‑township‑village express delivery and logistics network, which is precisely the key area where current policies are focusing their efforts to accelerate improvements.

Recently, eight departments, including the Ministry of Commerce and the State Post Bureau, issued the “Notice on Accelerating the Integration of County‑, Township‑, and Village‑Level E‑Commerce Systems with Express Delivery and Logistics Distribution Networks” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”). The Notice calls for upgrading and renovating a number of county‑level logistics and distribution centers, promoting the consolidation of express delivery and logistics resources at the county level, establishing a number of demonstration zones for the coordinated development of rural e‑commerce and express delivery services, and enhancing public parcel‑delivery and logistics service capabilities, with the aim of achieving… By 2025, in areas where conditions permit, the goal will be to ensure that every county has a central facility, every township has a service outlet, and every village has access to services.
 

Both the supply and demand sides benefit.

Both consumers and merchants are eagerly anticipating the expansion of logistics services to lower-tier markets. —— Rural consumers are looking forward to more convenient shopping.

Fu Zhangkai, who lives in Yuyuan Village, Huian County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, said that although online shopping is now very convenient for his family and the surrounding rural areas—saving them the hassle of going to malls or bustling market days—however… The “last-mile” challenge remains unresolved. “When shopping online in rural areas, the biggest inconvenience is the final leg of delivery—from the town to the village. With the exception of high‑value items like home appliances, most ordinary parcels are simply dropped off at the town’s delivery hub and not forwarded to the villages. Moreover, many of our villages are located in mountainous regions and are sparsely populated, making it even more difficult to pick up packages in town. We hope that, once the relevant policies outlined in the Notice are implemented, this situation will improve,” he said.

Many farmers hope to leverage logistics to further expand sales channels for rural products.

Yang Fei, a farmer from Guoyang County in Bozhou City, Anhui Province, is a rural Taobao merchant who primarily sells local specialty agricultural products, including freeze-dried vegetables. “In the early years, it was difficult for express delivery to reach rural areas. After our freeze-dried vegetable products were manufactured at the processing plant, they typically had to be first transported to a warehouse in the county before being shipped out. Not only did this round-trip logistics take a long time, but it also significantly increased distribution costs. Later, we partnered with an express delivery company, and our per‑shipment logistics costs dropped by 0.35 yuan,” said Yang Fei. He added that if the development of cold-chain logistics infrastructure for storing, preserving, and transporting agricultural products were further accelerated, fresh farm produce from the village would sell even better, and villagers’ incomes would rise as well.

At present, Hami melons from Turpan City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are ripening and hitting the market, with shipments heading to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi’an, and other cities. Pictured here is a scene from recent days at a local warehouse in Shanshan County, Turpan City, where workers are loading Hami melons into refrigerated logistics trucks in preparation for export.

Platform companies are also hoping for smoother logistics in counties and townships.

According to a representative from Suning.com, domestic delivery operates on a tiered, bottom-up model. Due to factors such as costs, staffing constraints, and geographical challenges, it is difficult to ensure that every parcel is delivered accurately to the intended recipient. Addressing infrastructure gaps in county-level commerce and improving and optimizing logistics networks across counties and rural areas are of paramount importance. “In recent years, leveraging more than 10,000 physical Retail Cloud stores and over 60 logistics hubs nationwide, we have extended our services to 98% of counties and towns across the country,” said the official. “The Notice encourages large e‑commerce and distribution enterprises to focus on county‑ and town‑level markets, deepen their supply chains, and introduce new trading models, thereby integrating rural distribution infrastructure and business formats into the modern circulation system—providing clear guidance for companies seeking to expand into lower-tier markets. Furthermore, the continued improvement of the logistics and delivery network will ensure smoother commercial operations.”

Strengthen efforts to address logistics shortcomings.

Unblock What shortcomings will the “last mile” initiative aim to address?

Extend low‑temperature cold‑chain services to more villages and towns. The Notice emphasizes, in light of agricultural production conditions and the layout of logistics hubs, the establishment of origin‑based cold‑chain collection and distribution centers with commercial processing capabilities in eligible counties or extra‑large towns, while promoting the use of mobile cold storage units. At the same time, it calls for strengthening the agricultural supply chain and guiding agricultural wholesale markets to accelerate the upgrading of cold‑chain facilities that support logistics aggregation, distribution, and low‑temperature delivery.

A logistics service station will be established in the village. The Notice encourages localities to, based on their specific circumstances, strengthen the development of express delivery and logistics infrastructure at the county, township, and village levels, and upgrade and renovate county-level logistics distribution centers. Moreover, leveraging public service facilities such as village post offices, Yi Nong information stations, and village committees, as well as community‑oriented commercial outlets like family‑run shops, convenience stores, and e‑commerce service points, villages are to set up integrated village‑level parcel‑delivery and logistics service stations, thereby achieving… “Multi‑station integration, multi‑functionality at a single site, and multi‑use of a single network.”

Express delivery and logistics resources will collaborate to enhance efficiency. The Notice calls for guiding e‑commerce, postal services, supply and marketing cooperatives, express delivery companies, logistics providers, and commercial distribution entities to engage in market‑oriented cooperation, thereby advancing warehousing, collection, sorting, transportation, and last‑mile delivery. The “Five Unifications”—integrating facilities, vehicles, personnel, operations, and management—will enhance express delivery and logistics capabilities. The Notice encourages eligible rural areas to explore smart logistics, leveraging technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things to advance the digitalization and intelligent transformation of rural express delivery and logistics systems.

In expanding the reach of e‑commerce, the Notice both encourages large e‑commerce and distribution enterprises to extend their supply chains and adopt new trading models, and supports the development of demonstration parks for the integrated development of rural industries, thereby ensuring smooth multi‑channel online and offline circulation of agricultural products and fostering the integrated growth of rural industries.

Hong Yong, an associate researcher at the E‑Commerce Research Institute of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, analyzes that relevant policies will help elevate the coordinated development of rural e‑commerce and express delivery logistics, leverage their role in boosting both rural incomes and consumption, advance the integration of domestic and foreign trade, foster a new development paradigm, and ensure a seamless link between consolidating poverty‑alleviation achievements and revitalizing rural areas. “The Notice provides an implementation roadmap for the high-quality development of rural e‑commerce and express delivery logistics in China,” said Hong Yong.

Boosting a more vibrant rural economy

Only when rural products can be shipped out and urban goods can be brought in can the rural–urban economy achieve a higher‑level, dynamic cycle. The Notice explicitly calls on local authorities to closely monitor and analyze the challenges facing the development of rural e‑commerce and express‑delivery logistics, proactively introduce supportive policies, and adopt comprehensive measures to reduce rural delivery and logistics costs. This will inject greater vitality into rural economic development.

He’s even more motivated in the transportation business. After graduating from university, Guangxi native Huang Dailin returned to his hometown, Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, to work in logistics and transport. In just a few years, he has built a team that boasts… A convoy of eight delivery trucks. In his view, county‑to‑village logistics holds great potential: “We ship local specialty agricultural products—such as black rice, glutinous rice, and Chongyang bamboo shoots—outward, while bringing in external supplies like fertilizers, plastic mulch, and animal feed. The demand for such transportation is substantial indeed!”

Since the beginning of this year, the pandemic has had a significant impact on Huang Dailin’s business. Nevertheless, he has remained undaunted. “Not long ago, the Rongshui County Tax Bureau processed our application for a value-added tax credit refund. This refund of 48,600 yuan has been a tremendous help in getting us through a difficult period. Looking ahead, the state is now strongly supporting the development of county‑ and village‑level logistics systems. The measures outlined in the notice—addressing cold‑chain shortcomings, boosting the efficiency of agricultural product outbound logistics, extending supply chains to lower-tier markets, and promoting new trading models—are exactly what we’ve been thinking about and hoping for,” said Huang Dailin. He added that recently, he has been actively collaborating with companies such as ZTO Express and ANENG Logistics, seeking to unlock further opportunities through the expansion of logistics services into rural areas.

E‑commerce operators are now more confident in scaling up and strengthening their businesses. Guyang County in Baotou City, located in the northwest of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is renowned for its specialty agricultural products, including rapeseed, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, and beef and mutton. With the rapid growth of e‑commerce—particularly livestreaming sales—many of Guyang’s local specialties have gained recognition and popularity among consumers in southern China. “There are still pain points! Specialty products collected from rural areas are often stored locally, and when it’s time to ship them, we frequently have to coordinate inventory across several warehouses. Even just shuttling delivery trucks around the region eats up a significant portion of our costs,” Zhang Yu, general manager of Baotou Yazhishi Food Co., Ltd., told our reporter.

Last year, Guyang County, by partnering with JD Cloud Warehouse as an ecological collaborator, established… A county‑township‑village logistics system featuring “one smart cloud warehouse, one shared distribution network, and one integrated distribution platform.” This has given Zhang Yu a chance to break through longstanding bottlenecks. “A unified warehousing and logistics system has significantly cut our costs! Now, by leveraging JD Cloud Warehouses, we can save at least 10 yuan in warehousing and logistics expenses for every 300 yuan of sales,” Zhang Yu said. The Notice also outlines measures such as “promoting the construction of cold‑chain logistics facilities for agricultural product storage and preservation” and “building an integrated express delivery and logistics service system encompassing warehousing, sorting, last‑mile delivery, and value‑added services,” which will help e‑commerce for agricultural products grow stronger and more robust.

Logistics professionals also have higher expectations for the future. “A series of policies outlined in the Notice will help systematically address the ‘last-mile’ challenge. We will continue to work hard, leveraging the favorable policy environment, to enable more consumers to enjoy the convenience of placing orders before bed and receiving their packages upon waking,” said Xia Yongli, head of JD Logistics’ Guyang E‑commerce Demonstration County project.