Recently, in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at different places around the world, China Post has taken multiple measures to coordinate and guarantee the smooth transportation of inbound and outbound international mail. Relevant mail processing centers have focused on both epidemic prevention and safe production of the inbound international mail to build a solid defense line for mail entry. 

In response to the sharp reduction of international passenger flights at various ports, China Post has restarted the peak season hub function of Zhengzhou port, booked the European and North American route cargo aircraft, pushed forward the opening of China Postal Airlines’ South Korea route, and redirected the mail from the whole network. On March 18, China Postal Airlines officially opened the Zhengzhou-Seoul route, with five flights per week, operating from Tuesday to Saturday. Since March 17, China Postal Airlines has added an extra flight to the regular flights on the “Pudong, Shanghai-Osaka, Japan” route. Affected by the epidemic, passenger flights have been reduced dramatically, intensifying the insufficiency of belly freight capacity. In the context of limited resources of international cargo flights, it is of special significance that China Post supplements the extra cargo flight between Pudong, Shanghai, and Osaka, Japan, and opens the Zhengzhou–Seoul route. In order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on air transport, China Post, with the support of the General Administrations of Customs, has set up international mail transit stations in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhengzhou, Weihai and other places to speed up mail transportation. It has timely informed relevant international postal organizations of the handling of inbound and outbound mail, and asked postal operators in other countries to explain to senders the difficult situation of mail transportation during the pandemic. Besides, China Post has actively strengthened communication with the Customs and other authorities to open green Customs clearance passage for epidemic prevention supplies so as to ensure the centralized and rapid processing and timely delivery of the related supplies.

While ensuring the unimpeded inbound and outbound channels of international mail, postal branches of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places also take strict prevention and control measures to effectively prevent the cross-border transmission of novel coronavirus through inbound international mail.

The Airmail Processing Center of Beijing Postal Branch seriously takes its leading role in epidemic prevention and control, takes various prevention measures, intensifies management to effectively contain the spread of the epidemic and forms seamlessly closed loops of responsibility, control and work. The center carries out surface sprinkling disinfection to all packaging and transportation vehicles used to bear inbound international mail from the airlines such as containers, pallet trucks and so on, and then spray-disinfects the mails inside the containers. To the mails from the hard-hit regions, the center takes key preventive measures by disinfecting them for many times and processing them after ventilation.

From February 1 to March 17, the processing volume of inbound international mail in Shanghai Postal Branch increased by 12%, compared with that of last year. Shanghai Postal Branch strictly implements various epidemic prevention requirements, and earnestly carries out the policies made by Shanghai municipal government to contain the source of infection and block the routes of transmission, strictly preventing imported risks. It conducts closed management and operation on all operation sites. Disinfections are carried out regularly. Customs declaration and inspection department and other key areas are disinfected once every two hours. Shanghai Postal Branch strictly implements disinfection rules for inbound international mail, and disinfects all the inbound air mails and those shipped via containers after unpacking.

Collaborating with the Customs and based on differentiated epidemic control principles, Guangzhou International Mail Exchange Office works out epidemic prevention and control solutions for inbound international mail in the aspects of scientifically determining the scope, objects and time limit of disinfection, properly using disinfectants and disinfection methods, effectively protecting individual postal and Customs employees, and eventually cutting off the routes of epidemic transmission and stemming the spread of the virus. From January 24 to March 17, this exchange office safely and promptly handled about 96100 incoming mail items as well as 329000 transit mail items.