BEIJING — China's postal industry saw a 21.3-percent rise in business revenue year-on-year to reach 688.27 billion yuan (about $97.79 billion) in the first three quarters, data from the State Post Bureau showed.

The express delivery sector, the backbone of the postal service, has seen growing expansion, as express delivery firms made 43.91 billion deliveries during the period, up 26.4 percent year-on-year.

Business revenue of these courier firms jumped 24.1 percent year-on-year to come in at 527.1 billion yuan over the same period.

In the first three quarters, the average price per unit of express delivery further dropped by 0.2 yuan compared with the first half of the year, and service quality continued to improve, said the bureau.

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