BEIJING, Jan. 3 -- China's express delivery sector handled over 2.13 billion packages during the three-day New Year holiday, which ended on Monday, signaling the recovery of courier services nationwide, the State Post Bureau said on Tuesday.

Of the total, 1.06 billion packages were collected, up 15.2 percent from the same holiday last year. The number of parcels delivered climbed 11.5 percent year on year to 1.07 billion, data from the bureau shows.

The sector has started preparing for an upcoming busy period as people are shopping for the Spring Festival holiday, which begins on Jan. 21 this year, the bureau said.

Collections and deliveries carried out by postal and express postal services have seen significant growth since Dec. 4, as the country's newly adjusted COVID-19 response policy promotes the resumption of both work and production, industry data shows.