More than 100 billion parcels have been handled in China this year as of Thursday, evidence of the sector's resilience amid sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks, as carriers strive to maintain the flow of goods to meet people's demands, the State Post Bureau of China said.

A year ago, it took carriers until Dec 8 to handle the same number of parcels.

The 100 billionth parcel was a box of sweet pomelos from Pinghe county that was delivered to Xiamen in Fujian province.

China's parcel delivery industry has seen booming development in the recent decade. However, the sector is facing an unprecedented challenge this year due to the ongoing pandemic.

The excessive and stringent control measures in some regions have clogged transport and logistics networks and hampered the sector's smooth operation.

"To cope with the adverse effects, the bureau has carried out a number of measures to improve the sector's development," said Lin Hu, deputy director of the bureau's market inspection department.

Measures include implementing epidemic control in daily work to prevent the spread of the virus via parcel delivery and collection, he said.

It has established a working mechanism to unclog the main logistics network and blocked terminals caused by the epidemic.

It has also improved the quality of the sector's development, extending the network to rural areas, factories and overseas markets.

The extension of the parcel delivery network to rural areas has unlocked potential in the countryside market and boosted rural vitalization.

"With the rapid development of new types of e-commerce such as livestreaming sales, the source of the products has been optimized. More types of goods, especially more agricultural produce, are linked to the market through the express delivery network," said Xu Liangfeng, deputy head of the data management department of the bureau's safety center.

The sector has operated smoothly in eastern China, where the parcel delivery system is more developed. The sector in the central and western parts of China has also grown significantly. The national distribution of parcel delivery is improving, he added.

Jiang Chunlong, a courier in Pinghe county, collected the 100 billionth parcel on Thursday.

"Sweet pomelos are a featured local agricultural produce. In the harvest season, we couriers will go to orchards to help take boxes of fruits to the parcel delivery station and send them to places across the country," he said.

He usually collects 2,000 to 3,000 parcels a day. But during peak times, Jiang collects as many as 5,000 parcels to meet the needs of local farmers and e-commerce shop owners.

The 100 billionth parcel was sent by Cai Zexin, a local teacher who helps his parents send sweet pomelos to customers in his spare time.

The family grows and sells sweet pomelos. Cai's parents are responsible for growing sweet pomelos, but they are old and unable to use online payment, manage e-commerce or parcel delivery. The son takes care of the rest of the business, including sending the products to customers through the parcel delivery system.

"When I studied in Xiamen, my teachers and friends liked sweet pomelos from my home and I usually sent the fruit to them as gifts. The reputation has been built up and our regular customers buy sweet pomelos from my family every year at harvest time," he said.