Pinduoduo's "Hundred Billion Support" initiative promotes the delivery of packages to villages; transshipment fees are covered by the platform.

With the support of the “longest Spring Festival holiday in history,” the consumer market in 2026 is full of energy. The rural New Year atmosphere is immersed in vibrant red Spring Festival couplets, drifting in the rolling aroma of festive dishes, and echoed in the greetings among neighbors and villagers. It is also carried in every parcel that crosses mountains and reaches the countryside.

“We in the village love to eat fruit pulp orange during the New Year feast, and it’s also a good gift for visiting relatives. I specifically bought three crates from Pinduoduo before the holiday and sell them in my shop,” said Gao Xia, who runs a small shop near Chaohu, Anhui. Since joining Pinduoduo’s station service at the end of 2025, she has switched to online sourcing for snacks, seasonings, clothing, and daily necessities. “Now, express deliveries can be sent directly to the village entrance without extra charges. Everyone loves shopping online. During the eve of the New Year, we receive about 80 packages daily, something we’ve never experienced before.”

“I ate 20 jin of Yunnan snow lotus fruit during the holiday—sweet and fire-warding, very comfortable to eat,” said Yu Shengmin, who lives in the Qinba Mountains of Shaanxi. He ordered snow lotus fruit for over 40 yuan via group purchase, and it arrived in three or four days. “It used to be unthinkable—Yunnan fruits delivered to our mountain villages at such affordable prices and convenience.”

The Spring Festival is not only China’s most grand traditional holiday but also a major peak for annual consumption. It acts like a prism, reflecting the true changes in China’s economic capillaries: in vast rural villages, “online group buying—pick-up at the village entrance—sharing among neighbors” is becoming a daily routine.

Behind this new scene is the systematic deepening of national postal infrastructure and e-commerce platform services. Since the pilot program of “free delivery into villages” began in the fourth quarter of 2025, Pinduoduo has deployed and built last-mile delivery networks nationwide, including county transfer warehouses and village collection points, covering remote administrative villages. It also bears the second-stage transfer costs for village delivery orders, aiming to reduce high logistics costs and low merchant shipping willingness in remote areas, thereby expanding the “free shipping zone” to more rural areas.

Pinduoduo has piloted “free delivery into villages” in many parts of the country, covering the second-stage transfer costs for village orders, optimizing rural shopping experiences, and helping merchants access village markets. Zhao Hanjie | Photo

This is another inclusive project following the “trillion-yuan support” plan launched by Pinduoduo, after initiatives like “DuoDuo Good Specialty Products,” “Western Movement,” and “New Quality Supply.” It also actively implements the spirit of the Central No. 1 Document in 2026. The document states, “Support the co-construction and sharing of rural logistics facilities, promote the integration of rural passenger and freight postal services, implement joint distribution, and deepen the delivery into villages.”

“We deeply feel that under the guidance of national strategies, rural consumption has become a new force driving the domestic big cycle. The ‘last mile’ of industrial products going to the countryside is also the ‘first mile’ of agricultural products going up,” said a person in charge of Pinduoduo’s related business. Building on the success of leading the “e-commerce westward” in six western provinces, the platform is now piloting “free delivery into villages” in many other provinces and cities nationwide through the “trillion-yuan support” plan. “Rural business is our original intention and our deepest roots. We hope to contribute to the dual circulation of ‘industrial products going to the countryside and agricultural products entering cities,’ improving rural life and promoting balanced urban-rural development.”

Laying the “business road” to the village entrance

Yu Shengmin has run Shengmin Shop for over 20 years. This year, he experienced his first lively New Year.

Due to mobility issues, he relies on a wheelchair, and his range of movement is limited. Usually, he helps customers in the shop or sits by the fire, lost in thought. This quietness in a small village in Ankang, Shaanxi, was broken by Pinduoduo’s “free delivery into villages” service.

In areas covered by Pinduoduo’s “free delivery into villages,” villagers can set their village address as the default and receive parcels at the village station.

In December 2025, Yu Shengmin took on the task of collecting Pinduoduo parcels for the village, thinking, “Might as well earn some extra income.” Unexpectedly, this casual decision changed his life.

“Shengmin, can you help me see how to pick up this parcel?” “This shirt is too big, how do I exchange it?” “I want to buy some snow lotus fruit, how do I place an order?” As he received and sent parcels, Yu Shengmin felt happy being “needed.” The shop, once quiet, now sees daily visitors collecting parcels and chatting with him. They also buy small items on the side, making the shop lively.

He attributes the change to “convenience.” Villagers living deep in the mountains find it hard to go out. They are used to not rushing to markets or cities, and prefer online shopping to save effort. Almost all daily necessities are bought from small shops. If something is unavailable locally, they make a list and go to the town for bulk shopping when free.

“Round trip is over 20 kilometers, half an hour by car, costing 10 yuan,” said Yu Shengmin. Elderly villagers who are left behind find it inconvenient and are reluctant to spend that money, so they rely on relatives to help. But since his Pinduoduo station opened and parcels can be delivered directly to the village, “going to pick up” has replaced “getting a ride” as the new common phrase among villagers.

Villagers enjoying the convenience not only place orders themselves but also happily share links with others. The daily parcels increased from a dozen initially, to 30 in the second month, and over a hundred before the Spring Festival. Fast deliveries from all over the country filled Shengmin’s shop shelves, with large items placed on the floor when space ran out.

“Many people bought New Year goods from Pinduoduo—fruits, clothes, shoes, small appliances—all lively every day. Some items can’t be bought in the town,” said Yu Shengmin, who also bought dozens of jin of snow lotus fruit for the New Year. “It’s cost-effective and convenient. Relatives can enjoy it too.”

Thousands of kilometers away, in a remote village in Hefei, Anhui, a similar new trend emerged during the Spring Festival. Gao Xia, the owner of a small shop, set up a Pinduoduo station. In just a few months, the station was filled with new clothes, shoes, window flowers, and Spring Festival couplets, then with nut gift boxes, frozen meat skewers, and other foods. Before the New Year, even large items like corn, rice, and milk arrived. “It looks almost all like New Year goods,” she said.

Although the village belongs to Hefei city, it takes two hours by bus or over an hour by private car to reach the city center. Previously, villagers rarely shopped in the city, mostly only in the town. After piloting “free delivery into villages,” they could pick up goods at the station during a walk. “Because it’s convenient, they buy more,” Gao Xia said. “Elderly villagers now send local specialties to their children who can’t return home, through the station.”

Thanks to the pilot program, Gao Xia bought a large amount of New Year goods through the platform this Spring Festival.

She also observed that villagers buy New Year items in phases, with parcels arriving in waves. Unlike before, when they had to buy everything at once—festive gifts, new clothes, and supplies—now they can order what they need anytime, and it arrives in about three days, avoiding last-minute rushes.

A female owner of an agricultural supplies business once picked up over 20 parcels in one go. “Driving an SUV, I got clothes, food, and even a silk quilt costing hundreds of yuan, almost filling the car,” she said. Even Gao Xia, used to the lively scene of Spring Festival, was surprised by the scale and joked, “This is a VIP customer; I need to pay special attention.”

Around the New Year, Gao Xia’s station saw an average of over 80 parcels daily, and villagers’ enthusiasm for pick-up remained high. “Sometimes, when the delivery truck arrives, the goods are not all unloaded before someone is waiting to pick up.”

Similar scenes are happening in more villages. In Shimen, Hunan, where post-00s graduate Hu Yingjie serves, villagers who first learned to order on Pinduoduo now use electric pruning shears and thermostatic kettles. In Wuxi, Chongqing, mom Zheng Fayan is busy before the holiday, managing a station with an average of 100-200 parcels daily. “If I don’t sort quickly, new shipments arrive the next day and cause a backlog.” In Fufeng, Shaanxi, Wang Feifei can now confidently buy for her parents living in the countryside, as they can pick up parcels just a few steps away, without waiting for her to return from town.

These logistics lines into villages and rural stations sketch a vibrant picture of a new Spring Festival in the digital era. As county-level commercial systems improve, rural consumption potential accelerates. A relevant official from the Ministry of Commerce said, “This Spring Festival, the national consumer market was lively, popular, and prosperous. Policy effects continue to unfold, with innovative expansion of consumption scenarios and strong service consumption vitality.”

Even the most remote villages will eventually be within the “free shipping zone”

“Wow! It’s incredible! Last year around the New Year, there were fewer packages. This year? The trucks are packed,” said Jiang Jingniu, who has been in the logistics industry for over ten years. Since late 2025, he has been responsible for delivery in remote villages around Hefei, Anhui, and was amazed by the purchasing power of rural areas.

Initially, a small van could easily handle the load, finishing work by 3 p.m. during Double 11. By Double 12, the surge in parcels forced him to switch to a 4.2-meter truck. Before the Spring Festival, the truck was fully loaded. “Just loading takes an extra hour compared to the beginning. When I finish, it’s already dark.”

He noticed that almost all pick-up recipients are elderly. Previously, they had to travel seven or eight kilometers to the town to get parcels, but they couldn’t ride bikes or were reluctant to take taxis. “It was inconvenient, so they bought less.” Now, his vehicle hasn’t stopped, and people are waiting at the station asking, “Has the parcel arrived?”

Jiang’s transfer warehouse has recruited many drivers dedicated to delivering to suburban and rural Hefei. “Even the most remote mountain villages are still accessible because there are residents there. We can’t leave them behind.”

Building the logistics network and stations is just the first step. The key is people. Besides driving, drivers also act as small teachers, guiding station managers on parcel handling systems. “Gao Xia is quick-witted and learns fast. Teaching them allows the stations to operate independently and efficiently, saving us a lot of trouble.”

Sun Wenwen, who has worked in the courier industry for over ten years, is responsible for Pinduoduo’s local transfer warehouse. When he first encountered the “free delivery into villages” service, he didn’t expect that connecting the village stations would be so difficult.

His daily route covers villages scattered on mountain slopes over 500 meters high, with roads as narrow as three meters in some sections. Wheels brush past cliffs on one side and deep valleys on the other.

“Straight-line distance is 30 km, but navigation shows 70 or 80 km, all mountain roads. It takes a month of driving with local drivers, repeatedly visiting each village, to cover over 90 administrative villages in the county.”

After more than three months, constantly dealing with elderly villagers, Sun Wenwen’s mindset changed. “I used to think I was just delivering parcels; now I feel like I’m bringing warmth to mountain villages.” Seeing children in new clothes and elders using smart appliances, he said, “No matter how difficult, I will keep going.” The road to rural stations has never been smooth. The convenience of online shopping depends on policy support. From the 2020 launch of the “courier into villages” project by the State Post Bureau, to its inclusion in the 2022 Central No. 1 Document, and the 2026 call to “deepen courier delivery into villages,” the rural logistics system has been continuously improved through persistent efforts.

Since the second half of 2025, Pinduoduo has actively responded to national policies, extending the “segment transportation + second-stage consolidation + transfer fee reduction” model tested during the e-commerce westward movement into the “last mile” of village delivery. The platform has launched “free delivery into villages” in multiple provinces and cities, optimizing rural shopping experiences and helping merchants access village markets. Merchants only need to send orders labeled “delivery into villages” to the transfer warehouse, which then handles transportation from the warehouse to the village collection points.

Pinduoduo’s “free delivery into villages” service has been implemented in Fufeng County, Shaanxi, establishing a village-level transfer warehouse based on the county logistics center. It consolidates parcels from 11 major courier companies and delivers to 71 village stations across the county, following a “county transfer, centralized sorting, and unified distribution” model. Currently, individual remote village stations handle over 100 parcels daily.

While effectively bringing high-quality goods directly to rural areas, Pinduoduo also accelerates the “mountain products into the city” movement. Fufeng, famous for apples, used to have high shipping costs and inconvenient transportation, causing good fruit to be hidden in the mountains. Now, the station handles packaging and delivery, improving circulation efficiency, reducing logistics costs, and making it easier for Fufeng apples to reach the national market.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2025, rural retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 6.82 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%, surpassing urban growth by 0.5 percentage points, maintaining this lead for 46 months. Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that in the same year, rural online retail sales first broke 3 trillion yuan, up 6.7%. These figures indicate that online shopping is reshaping consumption habits and business ecosystems in rural areas, making the rural market one of China’s most resilient and promising sectors for consumption growth.

As services like “e-commerce westward” and “free delivery into villages” turn into warm orders and parcels across vast lands, even the once remote western and rural areas are beginning to share in the dividends of the new e-commerce era.