BEIJING — China's postal sector posted rapid growth in business revenue in October, official data showed.

The business revenue of the sector surged 21.4 percent to 82.17 billion yuan ($11.74 billion) in October, according to a statement released by the State Post Bureau.

Meanwhile, business volume hit 147.31 billion yuan, up 31.1 percent year-on-year, the statement said.

The country's courier firms delivered 5.76 billion parcels last month, up 22.7 percent from one year earlier, with their total revenue soaring 23.2 percent year-on-year to 65.8 billion yuan.

In the first 10 months, the business revenue of the postal sector totaled 770.44 billion yuan, up 21.3 percent year-on-year, the statement added.

China plans to extend the courier network and improve its computer systems, services and international connections by 2020 when the target annual revenue of the courier sector will hit 800 billion yuan.