BEIJING - China's express delivery sector has grown steadily in the first three quarters of the year thanks to the country's continued efforts to boost consumption and services, according to the State Post Bureau.

Revenue for Chinese express delivery businesses reached over 270 billion yuan ($40.2 billion) in the first nine months of 2016, up 44 percent year on year, the bureau said.

A total of 21.1 billion deliveries were made during the same period, up 54 percent year on year, the bureau said.

China is aiming to nearly quadruple revenue of its express delivery market by 2020 from the 2014 revenue of 204 billion yuan.