J&T Express submits its 2025 globalization report: Dominates Southeast Asia, new markets turn profitable, high competition in the Chinese market brings both rises and falls

Ask AI: What are the key drivers behind a new-market turnaround to profitability?

Every-day Economic News reporter: Zhao Wenqi    Every-day Economic News editor: Yang Yi

From breaking out of Southeast Asia, to establishing a foothold in the Chinese market, and then to achieving a profitability breakthrough in new markets, J&T Express (HK01519, hereinafter referred to as J&T) is taking a development path completely different from other express delivery companies.

On March 30, J&T Express released its 2025 full-year financial results: during the reporting period, J&T Express’s total global parcel handling volume reached 30.13 billion, up 22.2% year over year; total revenue was $12.16 billion, up 18.5%; and adjusted net profit was $430 million, up 112.3%.

Notably, after preparing for and investing in the operation of new markets (including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Brazil, and Egypt) for 3 years, J&T Express first achieved adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) breakeven and turned profitable last year, recording $3.777 million.

In the domestic market, the financial report shows that in 2025, J&T handled 22.07 billion parcels in the China market, up 11.4% year over year; measured by parcel volume, its market share was 11.1%, slightly down from 11.3% in 2024. Revenue per parcel fell slightly from $0.32 to $0.30. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was $363 million, compared with $427 million in the same period of 2024, representing a slight year-over-year decline.

At the earnings call following the release of the financial report (hereinafter referred to as the earnings call), J&T management said that going forward, the company will continue to deepen its globalization strategy. Relying on China’s operating system and experience in refined management, while consolidating its Southeast Asian market, it plans to build Latin America into the next growth engine and explore potential opportunities in Europe and North America.

China market highly competitive: Slight declines in revenue per parcel and market share, but the ranking rises

The financial report shows that in 2025, J&T handled 22.07 billion parcels in the China market, up 11.4% year over year. Measured by the parcels handled, the company’s market share in China was 11.1%. The comparable market share in 2024 was 11.3%.

According to data from Frost & Sullivan, in 2025, J&T ranked fifth among express delivery operators in China, and its 2024 ranking was sixth.

A reporter noted that in 2025, J&T achieved business revenue of $6.71 billion in China, up about 5% year over year. However, J&T China’s adjusted EBITDA was $363 million, compared with $427 million in the same period of 2024, representing a slight year-over-year decline.

In addition, in 2025, J&T’s revenue per parcel in China also declined year over year. The financial report shows that the company’s revenue per parcel in 2025 was $0.30, while it was $0.32 in 2024.

In response, J&T explained in its financial report that in the first half of 2025, competition in China’s express delivery industry was fierce and prices continued to be lowered. In the second half, with the implementation of the “anti-involution” policy, competition in the industry became more rational. The company followed policy and changes in industry competition to dynamically adjust prices in different regions in order to maintain competitiveness. Meanwhile, it continued to optimize costs; the decline in costs partially offset the pressure from falling revenue, helping maintain profitability resilience.

As the reporter learned, in China’s highly competitive market, J&T is improving efficiency by investing in more automation equipment. At the same time, J&T’s cost per parcel in China also fell further.

The financial report shows that last year, J&T’s cost per parcel in China fell to $0.28. In response, the company said the main reasons were the scale effects brought by growth in business volume, as well as the ongoing refined operational management across each operating link. The number of automation equipment units that J&T invested in during 2025 increased significantly compared with the end of 2024, achieving a cost-optimization magnitude in line with the company’s expectations.

At the same time, amid complex and changing competitive conditions in China’s market, J&T is also looking for more incremental business. The financial report discloses that over the past two years, J&T has obtained more high-quality customers and branded customers by improving service quality. It has also expanded reverse-logistics items and individual spot-parcel business in order to reduce the impact of industry competition on its revenue per parcel.

Regarding its competition strategy in the China market, at the earnings call, J&T management said that besides the different competitive strategies adopted when it first entered the China market, in the past few years J&T has remained focused on high-quality growth in China. This has been reflected in the following: first, continuously deepening cooperation with e-commerce customers; second, strengthening the upgrade of transshipment centers and the last-mile delivery network; third, optimizing business operations to ensure good synergy across the network; and fourth, focusing on different product categories and the more granular sub-markets that were insufficiently covered previously.

However, for J&T, how to find the optimal balance between scale and profit will still be one of the main challenges it needs to address in its China development.

King of Southeast Asia, turning a new market profitable: Researching opportunities in Europe and North America

Next, let’s take a look at J&T’s performance in other markets last year. In Southeast Asia, it still maintained an advantage. The financial report shows that last year, J&T processed 7.66 billion parcels in the Southeast Asian market, up 67.8% year over year, with the growth rate reaching the highest level in more than four years; revenue was $4.5 billion, up 39.8%.

Frost & Sullivan data cited in J&T’s financial report shows that measured by parcel volume, the company’s market share in Southeast Asia further increased to 34.4%, and it has remained the No. 1 express delivery operator in Southeast Asia for six consecutive years.

However, when looking at J&T’s revenue per parcel, competition in Southeast Asia is also intensifying.

The financial report shows that in 2025, J&T’s revenue per parcel in the Southeast Asian market was $0.59, down more than 20% year over year. However, J&T’s overall cost per parcel in Southeast Asia also decreased—from $0.57 in 2024 to $0.48 in 2025. J&T said it made strategic pricing adjustments to maintain its advantage in the fiercely competitive Southeast Asian market, and it will further work to obtain more parcel volume to continuously expand its market share.

By contrast, the new markets that J&T has actively developed (including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Brazil, and Egypt) are still a blue ocean.

The financial report shows that in 2025, the parcel volume handled by J&T in new markets reached 404 million, up 43.6% year over year, and its market share increased to 7.5%. More importantly, J&T first achieved adjusted EBIT breakeven on a full-year basis in new markets, recording a profit of $3.777 million.

In its financial report, J&T also disclosed its development strategy in new markets: the company will export the express delivery operating experience from China and Southeast Asia to new markets, capture the dividend from the rapid growth of e-commerce and the express delivery industry, and achieve rapid growth in parcel volume.

J&T also said that in new markets, it has established close cooperation with international cross-border e-commerce and livestreaming e-commerce platforms such as SHEIN, helping cross-border e-commerce platforms address logistics and delivery challenges. The financial report shows that as of December 31, 2025, J&T operates 44 transshipment centers in new markets, with 300 line-haul vehicles and a large number of feeder vehicles, and about 2,000 outlets.

“In Latin America, we plan to first build and strengthen our presence in Brazil and Mexico—the two largest markets in Latin America—then we plan to enter other countries in Latin America, such as Colombia and Peru, to expand coverage across the entire network in Latin America. In the long term, we want to turn Latin America into the next Southeast Asian market. We are also exploring potential opportunities to enter Europe and North America.” At the earnings call, J&T management said this.

Overall, from breaking out in Southeast Asia, to establishing a foothold in the China market, and then achieving a profitability breakthrough in new markets, J&T has already proven the feasibility of its globalization model with its performance. However, going forward, whether J&T in China can continue to maintain growth and profitability, whether it can replicate the success of Southeast Asia in the Latin America market, and whether it can build a logistics network with stronger barriers in global markets will be key factors determining its future position in the industry.

Every-day Economic News