Regulatory Guidance and Bottom Support Help Restrain Declining Per-Parcel Prices
In fact, regarding the long-standing issue of low-price competition in the industry, in 2021, relevant national authorities introduced measures to intervene, which was seen as the first comprehensive "anti-involution" effort by regulators. At that time, some regions like Yiwu even promoted slogans such as "nationwide delivery for 0.8 RMB." To attract more e-commerce clients and gain higher market share, franchisees continuously lowered delivery fees, squeezing the profit margins of end-point outlets and reducing their stability.
In July 2021, seven departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Protecting the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Courier Workers," proposing measures such as formulating guidelines for delivery fee calculations, setting labor quotas, rectifying differentiated delivery fees, and curbing "using fines as a substitute for management." Postal management authorities in many regions also held talks with courier companies regarding pricing and delivery fees. Subsequently, major courier companies announced network-wide increases in delivery fees. At a symposium at the end of that year, the State Post Bureau explicitly stated: "We must clearly oppose 'involution' and guard against unfair competition." Starting in the second half of 2021, per-parcel prices across companies began a rare collective rebound, driving performance improvements.
However, from late 2022 to 2023, industry prices began to decline again. According to publicly disclosed data, the average monthly per-parcel revenue of four A-share courier companies in 2022 fell by 0.52% year-on-year, and the decline reached 4% in 2023. Industry insiders told N Video reporters at the time that low-price competition to capture volume was still prevalent in "high-volume regions," with some companies continuing to lower prices to gain market share, albeit less aggressively than before.
In 2024, the China Express Association released the "Initiative on Strengthening Industry Self-Discipline to Promote Healthy Development," stating that courier companies had long suffered from "involution-style"恶性竞争, with homogeneous恶性竞争 occurring frequently, disrupting market order to some extent and distorting reasonable costs and profits, objectively hindering the growth of the courier industry. The initiative encouraged companies to explore diverse models tailored to local conditions, expand networks and services, enhance fair competition awareness, comply with market rules, maintain good industry order, and firmly抵制不正当竞争.
In the first half of this year, per-parcel prices of A-share courier companies continued to decline. In Q1, the net profits attributable to shareholders of Yunda and YTO both fell year-on-year, and in Q2, some companies' monthly per-parcel prices even dropped below 2 RMB. Yunda executives admitted during an April investor relations event that pricing pressures were affecting operations, and localized price competition persisted. However, under the high-quality development framework, regulatory guidance and bottom support could effectively restrain further price declines. Industry insiders noted that as "competing on value" and "competing on service" gradually replaced "competing on price" over the past two years, coupled with stronger regulation, courier prices were expected to stabilize, accelerating the淘汰 of underperforming market players.
Huayuan Securities released a research report stating that the State Post Bureau's July party group meeting clearly opposed "involution-style" competition and addressed end-point service quality issues in accordance with laws and regulations. Compared to the 2021 "anti-involution" phase, courier terminal instability risks were higher now, but the regulatory environment was similar. July-August is traditionally a low season for the courier industry, and price increases might be seen in cities with low prices or regions where加盟商 are suffering heavy losses, potentially leading to broader price hikes nationwide or during peak seasons. In the medium to long term, sustained regulatory policies could maintain healthy competition, shifting the industry from price wars to value wars and improving courier companies' performance over time.
