Irregular mail: 1/3 of China's standard post never arrives
Staff Reporter
2012-04-12
11:08 (GMT+8)
CCTV reporters posted 100 letters but 33 had still not arrived a month later. (Internet photo)
Reporters from China's state broadcaster CCTV recently set out to investigate the efficiency of the country's postal service, following up complaints from members of the public that much of what is sent by regular mail never reaches its destination. Their simple experiment found that a full third of regular mail may go missing en route.
The test was to send 100 letters by regular mail to acquaintances in cities and counties throughout China as well as eight cities in other countries. The letters went sent between March 1-12 and as of April 8, 33 of the intended recipients reported that their letter had not yet arrived.
Jiao Zheng, deputy director of the State Development Research Center for the Post Office, said there is no way to track the progress of letters in the regular mail system, therefore "whether the letters are lost or not is very difficult to prove."
According to postal law in China, the post office cannot be held responsible for letters sent by regular mail. If a letter or package is important, it's better to send it by registered mail or special delivery, CCTV reminded.
