China Post Group Corporation Limited holds the 2021 Work Conference and the second session of the First Workers’ Congress in Beijing.

On January 8, the 2021 Work Conference and the second session of the First Workers’ Congress of China Post Group Corporation Limited opened in Beijing. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, this conference thoroughly implemented the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress, all previous plenary sessions of the 19th Central Committee in full, and the Central Economic Work Conference, conveyed and studied the important instructions of Vice-Premier Liu He, summarized the work in 2020, analyzed the situation, and made the overall plan for the work in 2021. The conference called on China Post Group to carry out work based on the new development stage, stick to the new development philosophy and integrate into the new development paradigm. Taking the implementation of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and the three-year action plan for SOE reform as the main task, the high-quality development as the focal point, the reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, China Post Group should go all out to build the strategic framework of the “four girders and eight pillars (four girders—universal services, financial services, delivery services and rural ecommerce; eight pillars—Party building, transformation, technology empowerment, flat management, platform, synergy, vitality and work style)” and strive for its second rise.

Mr. Ma Junsheng, Director-General of the State Post Bureau, member of the Leading Party Members’ Group of the Ministry of Transport, attended and addressed the conference. He fully acknowledged the achievements China Post Group had made in fighting against COVID-19 and ensuring the smooth flow of goods and mail items in 2020. On behalf of the Ministry of Transport and the State Post Bureau, Mr. Ma extended high regard and cordial greetings to all active and retired post staff, and put forward requirements for the work of China Post Group in 2021 in respect to its striving for the second rise and its forging of an invincible postal force for the new development paradigm.

Sun Guangqi, Director of the Economic Construction Department of the Ministry of Finance, also addressed the conference. He pointed out, the year 2020 was the first year for the establishment of China Post Group Corporation Limited after the SOE reform, during which the employees and executives of China Post Group, in spite of the severe test of multiple risks and challenges, resolutely implemented the decisions of the CPC Central Committee on coordinating epidemic containment with economic and social development, and made a series of remarkable achievements. The year 2021 is a year bearing special significance in China’s modernization process, and China Post Group is in a promising new development stage, Mr. Sun thus called on China Post Group to resolutely fulfill the important responsibilities and missions entrusted by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and continually improve its capacity and level of universal postal service and special services. And China Post Group should serve the key national strategies unwaveringly, give full play to its role as the "national team", and make positive contributions to assisting rural vitalization and serving the quick establishment of a new development paradigm with domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. By further improving the corporate governance structure, China Post Group should foster at a faster pace a governance mechanism where all departments perform their own functions, take their own responsibilities, operate concertedly, and check and balance effectively. It should thoroughly implement the three-year action plan for SOE reform, and make solid progress in deepening the reform. It should also improve performance, make the Group grow bigger, better and stronger, and push the high-quality development of China Post to a new stage, thus celebrating the 100^th founding anniversary of the CPC with excellent achievements. As the agent of the contributor, the Ministry of Finance will consistently provide full support and better service to the work of China Post Group, said Mr. Sun.

Liu Aili, Chairman of China Post Group, delivered a speech on fostering a new postal service with high-quality development through reform and innovation. Zhang Jinliang, President of China Post Group, made a work report. Other members of the corporate leadership participated in the conference. The conference was held on-site at the main venue and via video at the sub venues, with all concerned managerial personnel in the whole postal system present at different venues.

The conference first reviewed the main work and achievements of reform and development in 2020.

During the year 2020, persisting in the lead of Party building, China Post made every effort to deepen the integration of Party building work with business development, addressing the problems of weak, and ineffective Party building and bringing the unique advantages of SOE into full play. Persisting in transformation and upgrading, China Post worked to make its businesses ecological, operations refined, and services diversified, tackling such problems as obsolete business pattern, inefficient operation mode and the exclusivity of service means and further developing its market competitiveness. Persisting in technological empowerment, China Post strived to push forward the intelligence, information and agility of all businesses and procedures, shaking off the obstacles of low technology level, redundant artificial links and slow response rate to renovation and further enhancing the core competence of the enterprise. Persisting in flat management, it tried to foster a governance system featuring centralized management and clarified rights and responsibilities in both the headquarters and primary levels, moving away from complex multi-level organization, operational inefficiency and its over-long managerial chainsand further raising its operating efficacy. Persisting in platform building, it pressed ahead with the transformation of comprehensive service platform, changing its offline-dominated outlets and channels into fully integrated online and offline ones, and further demonstrating the synergy and convergence effect. Persisting in synergetic development, it strived to forge the segmented businesses into an ecologically coordinated system integrating universal services, financial services, delivery services and ecommerce, pooling together the strength of China Post as one. Persisting in stimulating vitality, it was trying to foster a management mechanism where the competent would be promoted, the outstanding rewarded, the mediocre removed from their present positions and the incompetent sacked, getting rid of the management system in which elimination would not be possible and further unleashing the endogenous growth momentum. Persisting in improving work style, it tried to identify weaknesses from the three perspectives of “customer, competition and industry best” and the three laws of “industry, market and value” and address the weak points, reversing such situations as resting on laurels, being sluggish and following the beaten path and creating an atmosphere of truth seeking and pragmatism. Persisting in a balanced development of both quality and efficiency, it accelerated the transformation of universal services, financial services, delivery services and ecommerce, remarkably improving the operating quality and efficiency of these businesses dramatically, and further tamping the cornerstone of the “four girders and eight pillars”.

Over the past year, China Post has focused on serving the overall national needs, raised its stance, and taken the initiative, making new achievements in fulfilling the responsibilities of enterprises directly under the central government. China Post has maintained a good momentum in its overall development, with its revenue increasing by nearly 8% year-on-year, and its profit increasing by over 12% year-on-year. The overall standards of universal service quality have been reached. Remarkable results have been achieved in financial service transformation. The competitiveness of delivery services has been rapidly improved. The development of rural ecommerce has been accelerated. And the strategy of synergetic development has been effectively carried out.

The conference pointed out that over the past year China Post had made remarkable and gratifying achievements, and gained precious and enlightening experience. First, it is necessary to combine Party building work with business development. Second, it is necessary to carry forward tradition while carrying out innovation and transformation. Third, it is necessary to focus on solving problems as well as achieving goals. Forth, it is necessary to strengthen top-level planning while crossing the river by feeling for stones. Fifth, it is necessary to combine the development of a single business with the synergetic development of all businesses.

In his speech, Mr. Liu Aili pointed out that the new situation had brought forward new missions and requirements for China Post. The first new requirement is for upgrading postal service quality. China Post should facilitate equitable access to basic public services, and upgrade the quality and increase the variety of consumer services, thus meeting people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. The second is for enhancing the competitiveness of China Post. China Post should thoroughly deepen reform and innovation, reinforce its profitability, and build itself into a market entity with core competence. The third is for deepening China Post’s corporate reform. China Post should faithfully implement the requirements of the central government, and ensure every task to be measurable, assessable, testable and practical. The new mission being entrusted to serve the new development paradigm, China Post should identify its own position and comparative strengths in both the domestic and international circulations, and give full play to its strategic, infrastructural and leading role.

According to Liu Aili, China Post is to undergo a transition from quantity accumulation to quality leap, and from breakthroughs in certain fields to improvement of systematic capabilities during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period. Through coordinated planning, top-level design, comprehensive layout and overall commitment, it will strive to build a new postal development pattern of "six dimensional symbiosis" featuring inclusive post, platform post, digital post, green post, dynamic post and harmonious post.

The year 2021 marks China’s embarkation on the 14^th Five-Year Plan, and the first year on a new journey of fully building a modern socialist country. It is also a vital year for China Post to push forward its high-quality development. Mr. Liu Aili pointed out that China Post would focus its work on five areas in 2021. First, it will spare no efforts to promote transformation and improve quality and efficiency, thus accelerating the high-quality development. Second, it will spare no efforts to deepen reform and stimulate vitality, thus effectively reinforcing the endogenous growth momentum. Third, it will spare no efforts to strengthen technology and competence, thus rapidly fostering its competitiveness. Fourth, it will spare no efforts to deliver duties for meeting the overall national needs and conscientiously fulfill its responsibilities. Fifth, it will spare no efforts to strengthen Party building and improve work style, thus forming strong synergy.

In the work report, Mr. Zhang Jinliang review the key work in 2020 from six aspects including the improved quality and efficiency of development, the highlighted responsibilities of an enterprise directly under the central government, the deepened SOE reform and innovation, the enhanced service quality and capacity, the consolidated basic corporate management and the strengthened Party building work.

To ensure the completion of the targets and tasks in 2021, China Post Group must give priority to quality and profitability, thoroughly implement the new development philosophy, and boost higher quality and more sustainable development in the new development paradigm, Mr. Zhang Jinliang stressed. First, utmost efforts must be made to consolidate foundation so as to promote the transformation and upgrading of postal services. China Post Group will strengthen quality control, continually improving universal postal service. It will foster in-depth overlapping and integration of businesses, comprehensively pushing forward the channel and platform transformation. It will strengthen innovative development, striving to tap traditional services for new growth drivers. It will also attach much importance to letter-post and media services, distribution of newspapers and periodicals, philately and other cultural and creative product businesses. Second, utmost efforts must be made to boost transformation and development so as to accelerate the cultivation of the postal financial ecosystem. China Post Group will promote the transformation towards featured, comprehensive, light, intelligent and centralized financial services, facilitating PSBC to achieve high-quality development. It will continue to expand sources and drive traffic, boosting the sustainable development of agent financial services. It will highlight value growth, continually creating new growth drivers for China Post Insurance. It will enhance competitiveness, ensuring the high-speed growth of China Post Securities. Third, utmost efforts must be made to improve speed and efficiency so as to promote the high-quality development of parcel, express and logistics services. China Post Group will push forward leapfrog development of EMS services, profitably large-scale development of express parcel services, transformation and development of international services, and coordinated development of logistics services. It will comprehensively promote five major operational reforms (reforms of two centralizations, collection and delivery offices, mail centers, network organization and means of transportation) of postal network, steadily improve service quality, and continue to enhance postal network capacity. Fourth, utmost efforts must be made to boost platform operation so as to elevate the quantity and quality of postal rural ecommerce. China Post Group will strive to drive more traffic to ecommerce platform, improve the quality of the channels, scale up commodity flow, create ecommerce ecosystem and strengthen support. Fifth, utmost efforts must be made to strengthen synergy so as to forge “One China Post”. China Post Group will improve its management mechanism and synergetic system, and focus on the implementation results of the key coordinated projects. It will enrich application scenarios and develop an ecosystem of postal membership. It will also enhance service competence and strive to enlarge corporate clients.

The second session of the First Workers’ Congress of China Post Group heard the report on the solicitation of proposals and the statement on corporate compensation and benefits management, reviewed and approved the report on increasing the enterprise contributions to the pension plan, and reviewed and passed the resolution of the session. The preparatory meeting for the session heard the report on the preparation work, the report on representative qualification review and the report on adjustment of the members of the special committee. During the session, all representatives listened to and deliberated on the annual work report of China Post Group.