According to officials with the State Post Bureau (SPB), the system is now complete with 200 distribution centers, 67,000 business outlets, a postal air company, over 30,000 vehicles, and a postal staff of 150,000.

Meanwhile, an information network capable of transmitting data, sound and image has been set up, connecting 31 provincial capitals and another 205 cities.

Also, the SPB has set up a post financial network, which, covering 1,900 cities and counties in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China, is able to settle the payment issue in materials distribution businesses.

So far, the SPB has signed cooperative letters of intent with 11 famous enterprises at home and abroad including the Haier Group and the Dell Computer Corp.

Last December alone, SPB distributed 127,000 sets of Haier refrigerators, or 24.6 percent of the total distribution amount of the group during the month.

China enjoys big potentials in its materials circulation market and the total production value in this sector now stands at 1.78 trillion yuan.

(People's Daily 08/28/2001)