China's expects 1 billion express packages for Double 11 sales

A file photo shows employees sorting parcels at a logistic center of ZTO Express during the Alibaba 11.11 global shopping festival in Beijing on November 11, 2016. [Photo: VCG]

It's been predicted that China's courier services will handle over 1 billion packages for the "Singles' Day" shopping spree in November.

Officials say that record high deliveries are expected to be seen in 19 provincial-level regions across the country.

The industry's heavy use of courier packages could also pose environmental challenges, as the packaging material's main component can take hundreds of years to degrade.

As such, some logistics companies, such as Cainiao, part of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, plan to open "green warehouses" where the parcel delivered will use boxes without tape, as well as biodegradable bags.

November 11 is known in China as Singles' Day, as the date 11-11 resembles 4 "bare sticks", a term used in China to refer to single people.

Last year, Alibaba raked in over 120 billion yuan, or some 18 billion U.S. dollars, from the Singles' Day festival, with an average 120,000 transactions handled per second on Alipay, the company's mobile payment platform.