Dingduan News:

In recent years, various regions have explored and practiced the integration of rural passenger transport, freight logistics and postal delivery, promoting the intensive development of rural transportation. Could you please briefly talk on what the current situation is with the integrated development of passenger transport, freight transport, and mail delivery in rural areas? What are the next steps to promote better integration of the three? 

Li Yang:

Thank you for your questions. You just mentioned a very professional term: the integrated development of passenger transport, freight transport, and mail delivery in rural areas. I will ask my colleague, Ms. Wang Xiuchun, to answer.

Wang Xiuchun:

Thank you to this journalist for their attention to this topic. We have always regarded the integrated development of passenger transport, freight transport, and mail delivery in rural areas as an important measure to promote comprehensive rural revitalization, ensuring stable rural passenger transport, smooth logistics distribution, and effective handling of the "first and last mile" of postal services. After years of work, the integration of rural passenger, freight and postal services in China has gradually improved in terms of equipment, systems and operational mechanisms. As of now, more than 1,500 county-level administrative districts in the country have implemented the integration of rural passenger, freight and mail services, with more than 12,700 cooperative routes opened. In the first half of this year, the number of mail and express deliveries through rural passenger, freight and mail integration exceeded 900 million items.

We also see that in the process of rural passenger, freight and mail integration development, there are still issues such as insufficient coverage, imperfect cooperation mechanisms and lack of standardization in business operations. The next steps will focus on addressing these issues and accelerating the integrated development of rural passenger, freight and mail services.

First is the improvement of collaborative working mechanisms. Rural passenger, freight and mail integration development, as evidenced by the term, focuses on integration. We will guide local authorities to establish mechanisms for cooperation between transportation, postal, agricultural, rural and commercial sectors to form an efficient and collaborative working model.

Second is the improvement of service systems. We will guide local areas to continue improving the county, township and village-level service station systems, regulate rural passenger, freight and mail business practices, and expand new models such as "passenger, freight and mail + e-commerce, tourism and agriculture" to achieve sustainable development.

Third is the promotion and application of suitable equipment. We will strengthen communication with relevant departments and will continue promoting suitable vehicle models for rural passenger, freight and mail integration. We will encourage and guide county-level stations to adopt automated sorting and loading equipment to boost distribution efficiency.

Fourth is the continuation of improvements to support systems. We encourage localities to improve their supportive policies according to local conditions, to strengthen the promotion of successful experiences and to create a favorable atmosphere for the integration of rural passenger, freight and mail services throughout society. Thank you.