（January 19， 1981）
颁布日期：19810119 　实施日期：19810119 　颁布单位：国务院

The State Council has approved the Request for Instructions on Forbidding Any Units or Foreign Businessmen to Engage in Express Delivery of Documents in Our Country sent by the Administrative Commission for Foreign Investment and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. It is hereby transmitted to you for implementation.

REQUEST FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON FORBIDDING ANY UNITS OR FOREIGN BUSINESSMEN TO ENGAGE IN EXPRESS DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS IN OUR COUNTRY

International express delivery （also called special delivery of documents in some countries and regions） is a new postal service emerged in the world only over 10 years ago. By this postal service， express delivery mail from the addresser shall be transported with schedule flights， through closely-link transport means on the way， to the post office at the destination， where it is immediately delivered to the addressee by hand. This service is characterized by convenience， speed， timeliness and safety. The delivery is much faster than ordinary air mail， though the charge is also higher. Providing express delivery not only offers good service to customers， but also increases the revenues. Since July 15， 1980， the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of our country has established express delivery with more than a dozen countries in the world. With the development of our national economy， this service will further develop between China and other countries in the world.

Sometime in April and May， 1980， DHL-SINOTRANS Ltd. In Hong Kong held discussion with the Guangzhou Municipal Post Office in Guangdong Province about the express delivery service. In August and September the same year， Dunhao Company in the United States also held discussions with the Consultation and Technical Service Company of the Ministry of Foreign Trade for the same purpose. They were， in fact， asking for the establishment of “a post office” by foreign private enterprises in order to handle international mails in the Chinese territory. According to their plan， the Chinese Customers should observe their relevant regulations and， moreover， they would fix their own charge standards， in which our postal service has no right to intervene. This would not only infringe upon our sovereignty， right of postal management and administration and economic interests， but also cause disorder in the administration of post and communications in our country. Therefore， no foreign private enterprises are allowed to engage in the business of postal communication and express delivery of documents. In this connection， the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications， with the agreement of the Administrative Commission for Foreign Investment， notified the Administration for Postal Affairs of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Foreign Trade on July 23， 1980 and September 12， 1980 respectively that they must stop their negotiations with the relevant companies on the ground that the delivery of letters， printed matters， documents and materials must all be administered and managed by the General Post Office of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

In late October， 1980， American ALTMAN Co. of the United States started the service of express delivery of documents at the International Club in Beijing without authorization. American ALTMAN Co. has rented an office from the club and hired a staff member from the Friendship Commercial Services Company of Beijing Municipality in charge of the actual business.

Up to now， several documents have arrived at the Beijing Civil Aviation Administration by special delivery from Paris， Hong Kong and the United States and have been delivered to the addressees by the employee. The purpose of the foreign private enterprises in vying for express delivery service in China is to seize the business of express delivery of documents between China and other countries and regions in the world. A consultant of DHL-SINOTRANS Ltd. in the United States once said that the company was eager to start the business of express delivery in China， mainly because it wanted to be the first of such companies； it was ready to lose money on the venture for first three to four years， but it expected to make big money later. We hold that American ALTMAN Co.'s unauthorized business in Beijing mentioned above must be stopped. At present， a law for postal service has not been formulated in China and many units do not know that the postal service in China is under unified management and administration. In order to protect the unification of our postal service more effectively in the future and forbid any enterprises or individuals outside the postal department and any foreign businessmen to start the business of special delivery of documents in China without authorization， it is necessary to reiterate that any postal service which is run within China or jointly run with other countries， including the inward or outward delivery of letters， printed matter， documents and materials and special delivery of documents， must be administered and managed in a unified way by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications， which is responsible for formulation of unified postal charges and various rules and regulations.

Other organs， enterprises or individuals may not engage in the business of express delivery of documents in China. Foreign private businessmen in particular shall not be allowed to have a hand in this line of business. If nothing is inappropriate， it is requested that the above be approved and transmitted to all the localities and departments for implementation.