BEIJING, May 20 -- China's courier sector handled 16.32 billion parcels in April, marking an increase of 19.1 percent year on year, the State Post Bureau said on Tuesday.

The sector's total revenue expanded 10.8 percent year on year to 121.28 billion yuan (about 16.86 billion U.S. dollars) last month, according to the bureau.

The postal industry's total delivery volume climbed 16.7 percent year on year to 17.75 billion packages in April, and its revenue went up 9.5 percent to 144.72 billion yuan.

In the first four months of this year, China's courier sector handled 61.45 billion parcels, up 20.9 percent year on year.

The sector generated revenues of 466.91 billion yuan during this period, marking an increase of 10.9 percent year on year, according to the bureau.