Dongxing: The express delivery industry continues to intensify efforts against involution; price increases will bring companies greater profit potential during the peak season.

Dongxing released a research report stating that in August 2026, China's express delivery service enterprises completed approximately 16.60 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%, slightly lower than the 4.1% growth rate last month. Among them, same-city parcel volume decreased by 5.5% year-on-year, while inter-city parcel volume increased by 3.7% year-on-year. The bank believes that the intensity and sustainability of the industry's anti-involution efforts this year are expected to exceed expectations. Short-term fluctuations in per-ticket prices do not change the industry's long-term positive trend, and industry price increases are the most intuitive evidence of the effectiveness of anti-involution efforts. The bank expects that price increases will bring greater peak-season profit potential for express delivery companies. Dongxing's main points are as follows: Parcel volume year-on-year growth rate fell to a relatively low level for the year In August 2026, China's express delivery service enterprises completed approximately 16.60 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%, slightly lower than the 4.1% growth rate last month. Among them, same-city parcel volume decreased by 5.5% year-on-year, while inter-city parcel volume increased by 3.7% year-on-year. In August, the industry's parcel volume growth rate declined slightly month-on-month. STO's growth rate continued to lead but declined slightly month-on-month; YTO's parcel volume growth rate increased against the trend; Yunda's and SF Express's business volumes declined year-on-year. Overall, in August, the industry's parcel volume growth rate fell to a relatively low level for the year, and YTO still had a relatively strong desire for market share. Anti-involution efforts continued to intensify, and prices remained stable In terms of price, in August, the industry's per-ticket price increased by 4.0% year-on-year, and the year-on-year price indicator rose steadily. On a month-on-month basis, it was basically flat. At the headquarters of the Tongda companies, in August, STO's per-ticket revenue increased by 3.4% year-on-year, with the increase narrowing; Yunda's increased by 10.4% year-on-year, with the increase remaining at a relatively high level; YTO's decreased by 4.7% year-on-year, with the decline widening. YTO's per-ticket price was significantly lowered in May and then remained stable, which the bank believes was due to a change in calculation methodology. On a month-on-month basis, STO's per-ticket revenue increased by 0.07 yuan, a relatively obvious increase. STO's per-ticket price was relatively low in July and rebounded significantly in August, which may have been caused by delayed recognition of some revenue in July; Yunda's per-ticket revenue decreased by 0.02 yuan month-on-month, and YTO's decreased by 0.01 yuan. Combining parcel volume and unit price data, in August, against the backdrop of low parcel volume growth, the price side remained stable, and anti-involution efforts produced sustained positive effects. The bank believes that the current intensity of industry competition is controllable. STO and YTO seek steady increases in market share, while Yunda focuses on stabilizing existing customers. Industry regulation remained strong, and some regions saw price increases in September After entering September, industry regulation further intensified. From September 8 to 11, leaders of the State Post Bureau visited the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region for research, emphasizing the continued governance of "involution-style" competition in the industry and conducting in-depth research on work such as ensuring terminal delivery fees. On September 20, express delivery companies such as ZTO and YTO all issued notices requiring all outlets and cooperative customers in the Jiangsu region to uniformly increase express delivery service fees by no less than 0.1 yuan per ticket; the next day, the Anhui region also received price increase notices. Risk warnings: intensification of industry price wars; duration of anti-involution efforts shorter than expected; rising labor costs; changes in policy, etc.