Couriers are gearing up for the upcoming Spring Festival business surge after a government directive was issued requiring all express delivery companies to remain open during the holiday.

During Spring Festival, each company must appoint a transfer station for distribution and dispatch of parcels, and provide delivery services to both bricks-and-mortar and online vendors, according to a notice published on the website of the State Post Bureau.

"The express delivery service industry is a public service in the same vein as the civil aviation and railway industries, so they should stay open during the Spring Festival," said Shao Zhonglin, deputy secretary-general of China Express Association, a non-profit organization for major express companies.