BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- More than 2.8 billion parcels were handled across China during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, the State Post Bureau said on Monday.

Approximately 1.399 billion parcels were collected, marking a year-on-year increase of about 17 percent, according to the bureau.

It noted that about 1.429 billion parcels were delivered, representing a year-on-year increase of about 15 percent.

"Since the beginning of this year, the postal and express delivery industry has continued to maintain steady growth, with average daily business volume approaching 500 million parcels," said Liu Jiang, an official with the State Post Bureau.

This reflects that China's consumer market continues to heat up and consumption potential is being released at an accelerated pace, Liu added.■