One of the bigger opportunities in China's vibrant, chaotic economy is the lowly task of lugging small objects from one place to another. A relatively mature business in most developed economies, and for decades the sluggish preserve of a poorly run state monopoly in China, it has recently taken off. Part of the dynamism has come from the entry of the big international logistics firms (UPS, DHL, TNT and FedEx) into China; there have also been thousands of private start-ups, their scooters parked in the shadow of every building. A third force has been the rise of several ambitious state-owned companies.
Together, all these firms move a torrent of parcels between China's manufacturers, and a similarly expanding stream of documents, produced by a society that believes even the simplest transaction must be accompanied by receipts with thickets of signatures and "chops" (seals).
Source: The Economist