BEIJING — Strained by the novel coronavirus outbreak, China's postal industry logged lower revenue and business volume in the first two months, official data showed.

The postal sector saw business revenue drop by 6.5 percent year-on-year to 128.6 billion yuan (about $18.4 billion) in the January-February period, according to the State Post Bureau.

Business volume of the sector dipped by 2.9 percent from the same period of last year to 192.2 billion yuan.

In February, revenue and business volume of the industry edged up 3.3 percent and 5.7 percent year-on-year, respectively, the bureau said.

In the first two months, China's express delivery companies reported an 8.7-percent decrease in revenue, which stood at 86.49 billion yuan.

Courier firms handled a total of 6.55 billion express parcels, shrinking 10.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.