BEIJING -- China will improve the express delivery service in quality and efficiency in the next five years, a senior official said on Sunday.

The country is expected to handle 50 billion express parcels annually by 2020, Ma Junsheng, head of the State Post Bureau told Xinhua.

China's postal sector will provide more than 1 million jobs in the next five years, Ma added.

The express delivery sector has grown steadily despite a slowing economy. Statistics show that a total of 20.65 billion parcels were delivered in 2015, up 48 percent from 2014.

Courier services had covered 70 percent of Chinese towns and villages by the end of 2015. The country plans to build an efficient and safe delivery system with nationwide coverage, advanced technology and services and international connections by 2020.