BEIJING — China's postal industry will provide rural populations with wider service accessibility and contribute to the country's poverty alleviation, according to the State Post Bureau (SPB).

A three-year project aiming to offer express delivery services to villages will be launched in 2020. It will cover 98 percent of townships with courier outlets at the end of 2020 and significantly increase courier services, according to the SPB.

Projects designed to promote sales of local farm produce and specialties will be further developed via rural e-commerce channels and the postal network, which will also provide rural residents with life services such as online purchasing, mail deposit, and bill payment.

The industry also plans to create more than 200,000 new job opportunities at the end of 2020, encouraging postal and courier firms to increase employment in poverty-stricken areas, the SPB said.

China has remained the world's largest express delivery market for six consecutive years, with some 20,000 express delivery enterprises and more than 3 million employees.