Chen Xiaolei works in her supermarket in Zhifu village of Yushu, Jilin province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Since Chen Xiaolei started the business of parcel delivery in her village supermarket in June 2021, residents of Zhifu village in Yushu, a county-level city of Changchun, Jilin province, have been able to better enjoy convenience of the parcel delivery network in rural areas.

Chen, 25, opened a 30-square-meter store in 2019, selling fruits and vegetables to the residents of Zhifu. Despite the limitation of capital and business scope, she never stopped trying new ideas.

In early 2021, she expanded her store to 100 square meters, changing it into a comprehensive supermarket with various commodities.

When she got the news that the Changchun bureau of China Post was seeking cooperative partners to build logistics terminal mail processing organizations — parcel delivery stations — in rural areas, Chen sensed the business opportunity.

"Before that time, villagers had to make deliveries and pickups in Wukeshu township, which is about five kilometers away," she said. "Sometimes villagers failed to get their packages because they came outside business hours."

The supermarket includes a parcel delivery station in Zhifu village of Yushu, Jilin province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"The rural delivery stations can solve the problems through shorter distance and longer business hours," she said. "I believe that providing convenience to villagers will be welcomed."

She immediately made an agreement with the Changchun bureau of China Post and put the station in her supermarket.

"I was not sure whether I could make a profits from the business, but I thought that it could help me attract more visitors to my supermarket," she said. "In fact, I got much better results than I imaged."

At the beginning, the station received around 300 packages and sent about 10 per day," she said. "Now, the numbers have increased to 700 and 30, respectively."

The increasing customer volume also brought more business for the supermarket. At the end of 2021, Chen expanded to 400 square meters and received a monthly profit of over 50,000 yuan.

So far, a total of 388 rural stations have been built in Yushu and 2,446 in Changchun.

"Besides delivery service, the stations also provide charge payment services for water, electricity, logistics, employment information and financial support for agriculture," said Liu Dongyang, director of the rural revitalization office of the Yushu bureau of China Post. "The construction of the rural service system is of great significance for promoting agricultural products and increasing farmers' incomes."

Part of the parcel delivery station in Zhifu village of Yushu, Jilin province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]