(Yicai) Oct. 25 -- Couriers in China have set a new single-day package collection record after Alibaba Group Holding and other e-commerce platforms opened sales for the annual Double 11 shopping festival on Oct. 21.

Couriers picked up a record 729 million parcels on Oct. 22, according to data released by the State Post Bureau yesterday. The number handled surged 49 percent to about 1.92 billion in the first three days of Double 11 sales from a year ago, while deliveries rose 30 percent to around 1.65 billion parcels.

What started as a special one-day shopping event on Nov. 11 in 2009, has become the world's largest online retail gala and now lasts about a month, challenging China’s logistics companies and delivery infrastructure to handle the massive volume of orders.

Judging from the first wave of orders, parcel volumes may exceed last year's, said Dong Haiping, head of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen regional transit center of J&T Express, an Indonesian delivery giant that also operates in China.

The volume collected in Guangzhou and Shenzhen on Oct. 22 reached about 13 million, while it was never more than 12 million on any day during last year's Double 11, Dong pointed out. J&T expects the peak after the first wave of online shopping promotions to reach 14 million parcels, he added.

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen hub will likely receive 14.2 million packages on Nov. 1 following the next wave, Dong noted, adding that deliveries may set a new record high of 16 million on Nov. 11.

A Hangzhou distribution center of Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, Alibaba’s courier arm, welcomed the first batch of Double 11 parcels yesterday, with the daily average doubling to more than 3,000, according to Tan Meng, who manages the hub.

The boss of Cainiao’s logistics center in Yuhang, Zhejiang province, said more than 20 unmanned vehicles usually handle about 55 percent of its daily operations, but the fleet has been increased to 30 units in preparation for Double 11.

The State Post Bureau said China is entering its annual peak online shopping season, which is expected to end before the Chinese New Year at the end of January. To cope, many distribution centers have bought in additional automation equipment.

Editor: Martin Kadiev