BEIJING - China's courier sector should continue to post strong growth this year, due to more consumption and better services, the State Post Bureau (SPB) said Thursday.

Over 8 billion deliveries are expected to be made in the first quarter of 2017 with revenue expected to reach over 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion), according to the SPB.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, 10.2 billion deliveries were made, up 47.2 percent year-on-year, the SPB said.

The country has plans to extend the courier network and improve technology, services and international connections by 2020.

Annual revenue of the courier sector should be 800 billion yuan by 2020, according to a policy document released by the State Council in October, 2016.