Xizang's improved logistics networks bring faster delivery to the foot of Mount Qomolangma

①: Trucks wait to transfer cargo to a railway freight yard in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province, for shipment to southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region via the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. (Photo/Hao Baojun)

②: Photo shows automated sorting equipment at ZTO Express' transfer center in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Yang Qingyue)

③: A SF Express courier delivers a package to a customer's doorstep in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Xu Yuyao)

④: A villager uses a refrigerator purchased online in Medog county, Nyingchi, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Xu Yuyao)

⑤: Photo shows a JD Logistics delivery truck on a winding mountain road connecting Shannan city with Lhunze county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Yang Tao's delivery service station for Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, at the foot of Mount Qomolangma tells a remarkable story about the upgrading of logistics in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

Shelves in his shop in Zhaxizom township of Tingri county, Xigaze city, are full of parcels of all sizes from across the country. This year's "Double 11" shopping festival kept the young man from northwest China's Shaanxi Province busier than ever.

"More and more people are shopping online now," Yang said. "Years ago, my service station received only a dozen packages a week. Today, we handle around 100 daily. Most parcels now come with free shipping services—logistics costs are no longer a barrier to delivery at Qomolangma," he added.

The expansion of free shipping services into Xizang reflects a broader trend. In August, the regional government made advancing "free shipping services in Xizang" one of its 10 priority livelihood projects, introducing a series of supporting measures.

When heavy snow blanketed Gyirong and Nyalam in Xigaze in early November, Gong Xu, who oversees JD Logistics operations in the city, found himself anxious because of delivery schedules. "The snowfall disrupted traffic and could delay shipments by two days," he said. "Normally, parcels from our local warehouses reach customers in two to three days, with an extra day or two for more remote counties."

Such concerns about minor delays mark a dramatic shift from the past, when online orders in Xigaze typically took at least two weeks to arrive.

"Most people now consider it normal to order whatever they need on their phones and have it delivered quickly," Gong said, adding that they buy everything from tissues and bottled water to smartphones and computers online.

Behind the speed revolution is the growth of local warehouse development. Today, many shipments of JD Logistics, the logistics unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, bound for Xigaze originate from the logistics provider's warehouse on the outskirts of Lhasa, capital of Xizang.

JD's warehousing and logistics park in Xizang began operations in 2017, marking the autonomous region's first dedicated logistics park owned by an e-commerce enterprise. The warehouse now stocks nearly 100,000 product types, with an inventory exceeding 500,000 items. Close to 80 percent of product categories ordered by customers can be fulfilled locally. "Most items shipped from the warehouse now enjoy free shipping services," Gong noted.

To prepare for this year's "Double 11" shopping festival, JD Logistics enhanced its technological capabilities and stockpiled additional resources. "We predicted order volumes and conducted capacity planning, actively expanding warehouse space and inventory reserves," said Wen Baopeng, who heads JD Logistics' operations in Xizang. "When customers place orders, packages are dispatched immediately from our Lhasa warehouse for the fastest possible delivery—sometimes even on the same day."

The improved shopping experience has won over a growing number of residents in Xizang. Data show that in the first half of this year, Xizang's online retail sales reached 18.07 billion yuan (about $2.54 billion), up 38.6 percent year on year. Physical goods accounted for 86.1 percent of that total, growing 39.3 percent from the same period last year. Both growth rates ranked first nationwide.

Shannan city in Xizang has now achieved full delivery service coverage across all 577 administrative villages, 90 temple management committees, 467 schools, 26 centrally administered state-owned enterprises, and all military units. This breakthrough in solving the "last kilometer" problem has established an efficient and smooth rural delivery logistics system.

Shannan has issued a trial implementation plan for the comprehensive reform of its rural delivery logistics system and, with a cumulative investment of 14.02 million yuan, has built a delivery network integrating express brands and three-tier service stations covering counties, townships, and villages, according to Gyangkar, deputy mayor of Shannan.

To effectively reduce logistics costs, Shannan has encouraged postal-express cooperation involving partnerships between postal and express delivery companies, and promoted the integrated passenger-freight-mail transport model.

Since the beginning of this year, around 1.46 million parcels have been delivered to residents through postal-express cooperation.

The city has coordinated urban and rural public transport network resources to create 25 demonstration routes for the integrated passenger-freight-mail transport model, through which more than 84,000 parcels have been handled.

Improved road construction provides the foundation for logistics development. "Xizang now has 24 ordinary national highways and 57 ordinary provincial highways, with total national and provincial road mileage exceeding 30,000 kilometers. All 74 counties and districts have access to paved roads," said an official from the transport department of Xizang Autonomous Region.

By year's end, all towns and townships and over 90 percent of administrative villages in the autonomous region will have access to paved roads, the official added, noting that all townships and villages with feasible conditions now have bus service.