New Regulations Challenge China's Courier Industry: Income Reductions and Resignations

Under the new rules, couriers who 'freely place' parcels at designated collection points, known as 'huyans', may face severe fines. This has led to a surge in couriers sharing their experiences on social media, with some claiming that the new measures could reduce their daily deliveries by nearly two-thirds. One courier said on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, that five of his colleagues had quit since the new rules were announced.

According to his estimates, he used to deliver around 200 parcels per day. However, under the new guidelines, he believes he may only be able to deliver around 80 packages a day. This would result in a substantial decrease in earnings, raising speculation that some smaller courier companies may even face closure. However, while many couriers see the new rules as a threat to their livelihoods, some social media users have supported the changes, arguing that customers should have a choice whether to have packages delivered to their door or picked up from a collection point.

"A lot of express deliveries were already sent to huyans before," one user argued. "Maybe the express companies are just taking advantage of it and trying to dodge their responsibility." Another user agreed, suggesting that the new rules could help to elevate industry standards.

"Rooting out the 'parasites' will force the industry to progress," they wrote. "I fully support mandatory door-to-door delivery." However, the debate has also sparked wider discussions about the increasing dominance of major companies like JD.com and SF Express, which often provide doorstep delivery, in what was once a fiercely competitive industry. Some users argued that the new rules would simply force smaller couriers to raise their prices, thus pushing customers to use larger companies, who could then monopolize the market. "Why do 80% or more of the parcels I receive come from JD or SF?" one user asked. "It's because all the other couriers are cheaper than JD or SF. If the smaller couriers have to raise their prices to provide door-to-door delivery, it's not fair to the customer." Despite the controversy, there is a general consensus among many users that the courier industry is facing a number of challenges, with calls for greater government oversight and regulation to ensure a fairer and more transparent market for both couriers and customers. "The core issue is labor-capital conflict, but it's being shifted onto the customer," one user wrote.

"We've paid for delivery, so the terms of the contract should be adhered to. However, couriers' rights, including their wages and social benefits, must also be properly safeguarded." With the new rules set to fundamentally change the way parcels are delivered in China, it remains to be seen whether these changes will ultimately benefit customers and couriers alike, or whether they will merely serve to exacerbate existing tensions and inequalities within the industry. In the meantime, smaller courier companies are likely to be the most severely impacted by the changes, as they struggle to adapt to the new rules and maintain their market share in the face of growing competition from larger players. It's a challenging time for the courier industry in China, and only time will tell how these changes will affect the millions of people who rely on these services every day.