The_Future_of_Global_Retail_Preview

UB IQUI TOUS E XPRESS DEL I VERY 3 7

were almost five million people employed in the role, 1 accounting for nearly 0.6% of China’s working-age (16–59) population. 2 Each day, they rise early, like the rooster, and travel across the cities to deliver parcels. Some might consider their work to be a bit like “chicken hairs and garlic peels” in that it seems somewhat menial. But couriers are indispensable to Chinese society, where e-commerce permeates all aspects of life. Even during the 2020 Covid pandemic, they didn’t stop working. They provided food and daily necessities for people who had to stay at home, thus forming a lifeline. The Chinese fondly call them “courier boys” or “courier brother” ( 快递小哥 ). The evolution of the express delivery landscape In 1993, Chen Ping, who had just returned from finishing his studies in Japan, founded ZJS Express in Beijing; Nie Tengfei from Tonglu in Zhejiang Province founded STO Express in Hangzhou; and Wang Wei, a Hong Kong native, founded SF Express in Guangdong. Why 1993? It is no coincidence. In 1992, former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping made a grand tour of southern China, in which he reinforced the implementation of the country’s “reforms and opening up” programme. Coming three years after the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, this was a significant message. With assurances from Deng, China’s private enter- prises began to spring up like mushrooms, leading to a sharp increase in the demand for express deliveries of various types of contracts, documents, bills and other small items. The four major express delivery giants, namely, UPS (United Parcel), FedEx (United States Federal Express), DHL (German DHL) and TNT (Dutch Express), entered the Chinese market in the 1980s. Due to policy restrictions, however, they could offer only international services. In 2010, DHL, FedEx and UPS all finally obtained licenses to operate domestically – albeit items other than letters. 3 However, by then the competition that had built up amongst local delivery firms had become so fierce, the foreign companies kept their primary focus on international business. In 2019, foreign express delivery companies accounted for just 0.4% of China’s express delivery market, and their business revenue ac- counted for 4.9%. 4