ZTO Express Holds 2026 National Network Conference

Rhea-AI Summary

ZTO (NYSE: ZTO) held its 2026 National Network Conference in Shanghai on January 20, 2026, reviewing 2025 performance and setting priorities for 2026 aligned with the State Post Bureau's 2026 directives and the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

The company reported 2025 parcel volume of 38.52 billion parcels, up 13.3% YoY, maintained industry leadership for the tenth consecutive year, and said its platform reverse logistics business doubled in growth. Key 2026 focuses include quality-driven development, operational safety, network optimization, efficiency improvement, and strengthened execution.

News Market Reaction

-0.76%

1 alert

-0.76% News Effect

On the day this news was published, ZTO declined 0.76%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

2025 parcel volume: 38.52 billion parcels Parcel volume growth: 13.3% YoY increase Industry leadership duration: 10 years

3 metrics

2025 parcel volume 38.52 billion parcels Full-year 2025 volume cited at the 2026 National Network Conference

Parcel volume growth 13.3% YoY increase 2025 parcel volume growth rate highlighted at conference

Industry leadership duration 10 years Maintained leading business scale for the tenth consecutive year

Market Reality Check

Price: $22.44 Vol: Volume 1,807,878 is sligh...

normal vol

$22.44 Last Close

Volume Volume 1,807,878 is slightly below the 20-day average of 1,972,050, suggesting no unusual trading activity ahead of this conference update. normal

Technical Price at 22.32 is trading above the 200-day moving average of 19.18, indicating a pre-existing upward bias into this news.

Peers on Argus

ZTO fell 0.98% while peers were mixed: EXPD -0.69%, FDX -1.54%, UPS -1.08% versu...

ZTO fell 0.98% while peers were mixed: EXPD -0.69%, FDX -1.54%, UPS -1.08% versus CHRW +0.60% and JBHT +2.29%, pointing to stock-specific dynamics rather than a uniform sector move.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Nov 19 (Neutral)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Nov 19	Q3 2025 earnings	Neutral	-0.1%	Reported Q3 revenue and net income growth with mixed margin trends.
Oct 24	Earnings scheduling	Neutral	+0.3%	Announced timing and access details for upcoming Q3 2025 results call.
Aug 29	Debt repurchase	Positive	-1.8%	Completed repurchase right offer, leaving a small amount of 2027 notes outstanding.
Aug 19	Q2 2025 results	Negative	-1.1%	Strong volume and revenue growth but lower net income and reduced volume guidance.
Jul 31	Earnings scheduling	Neutral	-1.4%	Announced release date and call for Q2 and H1 2025 results.

Pattern Detected

Recent news, including earnings and capital structure actions, often saw mild negative price reactions, even when operational metrics or corporate actions had positive or mixed elements.

Recent Company History

Over the last six months, ZTO’s news flow focused on earnings and balance sheet actions. Q2 and Q3 2025 results showed parcel volume growth and revenue expansion but also margin pressure and guidance adjustments. The company completed a large repurchase right offer for its 1.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2027, substantially reducing outstanding principal. Several releases simply scheduled upcoming earnings calls. Against this backdrop, the current conference emphasizes 2025 execution and 2026 priorities after reporting 38.52 billion parcels in 2025.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement centers on ZTO’s 2026 National Network Conference, highlighting 2025 performance, ...

Analysis

This announcement centers on ZTO’s 2026 National Network Conference, highlighting 2025 performance, including 38.52 billion parcels and 13.3% year-over-year volume growth, and reaffirming its leading industry position for ten consecutive years. Management stressed policy alignment, service quality, and a shift toward integrated logistics. In light of recent earnings and capital structure actions, investors may watch how 2026 priorities on safety, network optimization, and efficiency translate into margins and parcel volume trends.

Key Terms

reverse logistics

1 terms

reverse logistics technical

"the Company's platform reverse logistics business registered doubled growth"

Reverse logistics is the process of moving products from customers back to a company for returns, repairs, recycling, or disposal — like the reverse of a delivery route when a returned package comes back to the warehouse. It matters to investors because efficient reverse logistics can cut costs, recover value from returned goods, reduce waste and regulatory risk, and protect brand reputation, all of which affect profitability and long-term cash flow.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

SHANGHAI, Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 20, 2026, ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO and SEHK: 2057) ("ZTO" or the "Company"）, a leading and fast-growing express delivery enterprise in China, convened its National Network Conference at its headquarters in Shanghai. The conference conveyed and studied the guiding principles from the State Post Bureau's 2026 National Postal Work Conference and the strategic direction for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, during which the Company reviewed its performance in 2025, analyzed the current landscape, and deliberated on and arranged the key priorities for 2026.

The Company's chairman, Meisong Lai, emphasized in his keynote speech entitled "Striving Together, Advancing Steadily for the Long-run," that in 2025, guided by government policies advocating for orderly competition and anti-involution, industry pricing gradually stabilized and recovered, and the competitive landscape continued to improve. ZTO remained committed to prioritizing service quality as its core priority, consistently implementing its balanced development strategy, and continually refining its service system, expanding its service coverage, and promoting industrial synergy. The Company achieved a full-year parcel volume of 38.52 billion parcels, representing a year-over-year increase of 13.3%, and maintained its leading position in the industry in terms of business scale for the tenth consecutive year. Furthermore, the Company's platform reverse logistics business registered doubled growth, earning greater trust from more platform clients and consumers.

The conference further clarified the overall working philosophy and key tasks for 2026. It emphasized the comprehensive implementation of the State Post Bureau's directives, balancing quality and development, with a focus on operational safety, service enhancement, network optimization, efficiency improvement, fostering equity, uniting the workforce, strengthening execution, and tapping into potential as the guiding principles for the entire network. The aim is to promote development through quality and stimulate vitality through optimization, thereby solidly ensuring the achievement of all operational objectives.

Chairman Meisong Lai expressed his gratitude to ZTO's network partners and all employees for their trust and support over the past year. He emphasized that the express delivery industry remains a promising sunrise sector with robust growth prospects. The industry is currently in a critical phase of transition, shifting from high quantity to a combination of quantity plus quality, and from pure express delivery towards integrated logistics. On the path of high-quality development, ZTO must act as a visionary thinker, industry trailblazer and pragmatic executor. The entire network must recognize prevailing industry trends, gain a clear understanding of its own positioning, reject involution, and pursue win-win cooperation and competition. Only by committing to concrete actions, pragmatic efforts, and solid results can ZTO ensure a path forward that is sound, stable, and sustainable for the long run.

About ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO and SEHK:2057) ("ZTO" or the "Company") is a leading and fast-growing express delivery company in China. ZTO provides express delivery service as well as other value-added logistics services through its extensive and reliable nationwide network coverage in China.

ZTO operates a highly scalable network partner model, which the Company believes is best suited to support the significant growth of e-commerce in China. The Company leverages its network partners to provide pickup and last-mile delivery services, while controlling the mission-critical line-haul transportation and sorting network within the express delivery service value chain.

For more information, please visit http://zto.investorroom.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to," and other similar expressions. ZTO may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "HKEX"), in its interim and annual reports to shareholders, in announcements, circulars or other publications made on the website of the HKEX, in press releases and other written materials, and in oral statements made by its officers, directors, or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about ZTO's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: risks relating to the development of the e-commerce and express delivery industries in China; its significant reliance on certain third-party e-commerce platforms; risks associated with its network partners and their employees and personnel; intense competition which could adversely affect the Company's results of operations and market share; any service disruption of the Company's sorting hubs or the outlets operated by its network partners or its technology system; ZTO's ability to build its brand and withstand negative publicity, or other favorable government policies. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in ZTO's filings with the SEC and the HKEX. All information provided in this announcement is as of the date of this announcement, and ZTO does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor inquiries, please contact:
Investor Relations
Tel: (86) 21 5980 4508
Email: ir@zto.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zto-express-holds-2026-national-network-conference-302665263.html

SOURCE ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.

FAQ

What did ZTO announce at the January 20, 2026 National Network Conference?

ZTO reviewed 2025 results, outlined 2026 priorities tied to State Post Bureau guidance, and emphasized quality, safety, network optimization, and execution.

How many parcels did ZTO handle in 2025 according to the ZTO conference statement?

ZTO reported a full-year parcel volume of 38.52 billion parcels in 2025, a 13.3% year-over-year increase.

What growth did ZTO report for its reverse logistics business in 2025?

The company said its platform reverse logistics business achieved double-digit doubled growth in 2025, gaining greater trust from platform clients and consumers.

What are ZTO's main operational priorities for 2026 from the conference?

Priorities include balancing quality and development, operational safety, service enhancement, network optimization, efficiency improvement, and strengthened execution.

Does ZTO say the industry outlook changed and how will it respond in 2026?

ZTO described the industry shifting from volume-only growth to a mix of quantity plus quality and integrated logistics, urging pragmatic execution and cooperation across the network.