BEIJING, Dec. 13 -- China's postal delivery businesses received 453 million parcels during the "Double 12" shopping festival, which took place on Monday this year. The figure was similar to last year's, indicating the accelerated recovery of the sector.

The industry has been accelerating its recovery since the beginning of December and is experiencing a new business peak, the State Post Bureau said.

According to data from the bureau, some 4.3 billion parcels were collected in the sector in China from Dec. 1 to 12, up 5.6 percent from a year ago. The bureau said that most congestion points in the country's express delivery networks have been resolved.

But the bureau admitted that slow deliveries in some regions persist as backlogs have yet to be fully addressed and courier companies are to some extent understaffed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.