Briefing: China Post’s Sichuan arm partners with e-commerce platform Pinduoduo

四川邮政与拼多多举办服务电商合作峰会 – News Sichuan

What happened: The Sichuan arm of the national postal service, China Post, and e-commerce platform Pinduoduo held a summit on October 16th where they pledged to deepen collaboration in logistics and supply chain finance. Officials from local government also expressed their desire to see more products from the southwest Chinese province feature on Pinduoduo.

Why it’s important: The cooperation illustrates Pinduoduo’s strategic shift to mainly rural, less developed parts of the country such as Sichuan. While the province’s capital Chengdu is among China’s most prosperous cities, the province is less developed relative to many coastal provinces in terms of GDP and consumer purchasing power. China Post also offers courier delivery services that are cheaper than other providers such as SF Express, which could help Pinduoduo rein in costs.