Abstract:

The rural express delivery program serves as a crucial measure for rural revitalization and holds significant importance for the integrated development in urban and rural areas. This study examines rural residents' strategies for picking up the deliveries as a case study and analyzes the social contexts underlying the implementation of express delivery logistics in rural society. It finds that the interplay between market system and social relation is a key factor in the successful implementation of the rural express delivery program. Rural residents adopt diverse strategies for receiving deliveries. They may choose to pick up packages while going to Ganji (market days), or utilize acquaintances to collect parcels on their behalf, and or even pay Modi (motorcycle taxi drivers) to retreat packages. These three distinct delivery collection strategies reflect the close relationship between market system and social relation in rural communities, and their varying forms of interplay. Picking up packages while going to Ganji represents market behaviours within social relation. This economic trade is deeply embedded in the cyclical patterns and order of rural social life and is the result of the stabilization of rural social relation. Social relation imbues the market with its unique character, further facilitating its function as a provider of market resources for rural residents. Asking acquaintances to pick up packages is a relational action within the market system, instrumentally utilizing the relational networks within the grassroots market structures and effectively sustaining market operations. As a model of market-relational integration, the unique occupation of Modi relies on acquaintance social networks. While the relational structure of rural society provides the foundation for its survival, it also constitutes an integral part of the rural market system. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between market system and social relation in rural China and its impact on the development of modern industry and market.

Key words: social context, express going to countryside, market system, social relation