Recently, ZTO Express was administratively summoned by the State Post Bureau due to issues including non-compliant business practices, service quality, and insufficient protection of courier rights. Furthermore, its high complaint volume on the HeiMao Complaint platform highlights operational management shortcomings.

According to the latest MSCI ESG rating, ZTO Express is rated BB, lower than SF Holding (A) and JD Logistics (BBB). ZTO began disclosing annual ESG reports in 2017 and started briefly disclosing quarterly ESG updates from 2022. ZTO's 2024 ESG Report demonstrates good overall compliance and a complete structure, including an ESG index table and quantitative performance data. However, it does not state whether it has undergone independent third-party assurance, and the depth of disclosure remains insufficient in several key areas.

In the environmental dimension, ZTO Express is actively building a green logistics system focused on green collection, transfer, transportation, and last-mile delivery. This is achieved through packaging reduction, cleaner transportation, operational intelligence, and resource recycling. The company has also established a climate management mechanism and developed response plans for potential risks to enhance climate resilience. ZTO disclosed performance data on resource consumption, pollution emissions, and green operations. In 2024, energy consumption density decreased by 8.4% year-on-year to 0.175 tons of standard coal/¥10,000 revenue; photovoltaic panel coverage reached approximately 620,000 square meters, with solar power generation increasing 33% year-on-year; cumulative investment in green reusable transfer bags increased 21% year-on-year to 53.43 million. Although the company disclosed Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, the coverage is limited.

Notably, ZTO announced its official joining of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in January 2021 and submitted a commitment letter. However, failing to pass the target validation within the stipulated time led to its status being marked as "Commitment Removed" on the SBTi website. While the company has set a emission reduction target to decrease carbon emissions per parcel in its own operations by 20% from 2023 to 2028, it has not established medium-to-long term decarbonization or net-zero targets for 2030 or 2050.

As of the end of 2024, ZTO had 24,477 formal employees, with a 100% contribution rate for the mandatory social security and housing fund. Regarding occupational health and safety, safety training coverage reached 100%. However, six work-related fatalities occurred throughout the year, resulting in a work-related fatality rate of 0.02%, indicating suboptimal safety performance.

As of June 30, 2025, ZTO had approximately 6,000 direct network partners nationwide, operating over 31,000 pickup and delivery outlets and about 110,000 end-point stations. Under its "network partner model" (akin to a franchise system), the ESG management chain is extensive, and standard implementation is challenging. Although ZTO continuously promotes "empowerment of end-point outlets," assisting them with data analysis review, equipment upgrades, and rectification tracking, the 2024 outlet service KPI score of 74.37 and a pass rate of 89.5% do not fully reflect the actual situation regarding the protection of grassroots workers' rights.

Disclosure on "Network Partner Rights Protection" is relatively limited. The report does not disclose the coverage ratio or investment amount of support provided by headquarters to partners, partners' social security contribution status, or specific mechanisms to safeguard couriers' delivery fees. Regarding the widely concerned delivery fee issue, the report only mentions "Solution: Provide subsidy calculation sheets for areas and execute model optimization plans," without detailing the fee standards, dynamic adjustment mechanisms, or specific safeguards against fee withholding by outlets or excessive penalties.

Regarding data security and privacy protection, the report discloses one internal self-identified customer privacy breach incident in 2024. However, external complaints suggest that the risk of information leakage might be higher than reported.

On service quality, ZTO disclosed a customer complaint rate of 1.95 per ten thousand parcels, down 2.0% year-on-year, and a customer satisfaction rate of 96%. However, it did not disclose key metrics such as the total annual number of customer complaints, complaint categories, average handling time, or on-time delivery rate. In contrast, the HeiMao Complaint platform shows numerous complaints related to delivery issues. As of November 16, ZTO had 1,775 complaints in the past 30 days and a cumulative total of 109,461 complaints, primarily focused on "lost parcels, delays, after-sales service, and fraudulent sign-offs."

The recent administrative summons by the State Post Bureau pointed out that ZTO engaged in non-compliant business practices, arbitrarily adjusted operational rules, had low service quality, and failed to adequately implement measures protecting couriers' legitimate rights. The bureau required ZTO to strictly fulfill its primary responsibility for managing its service network, improve express delivery service quality, strengthen its compliance management system, safeguard couriers' legitimate rights, and consciously maintain fair competition market order. Earlier, in March this year, the Yunnan Provincial Postal Administration collectively summoned several express delivery companies, including ZTO, regarding issues with rural end-point services. Additionally, Douyin E-commerce recently placed ZTO Cold Chain on its removal list due to fulfillment authenticity issues.

At the governance level, ZTO has established a relatively comprehensive governance structure, but the report lacks quantitative presentation of the actual effectiveness of these mechanisms:

- Limited Board Diversity Information: The report only discloses that female directors account for 10%, lacking information on age, professional background, industry experience, and also lacks diversity goals and roadmaps.

- Lack of Specificity in ESG-Executive Pay Linkage: Although it mentions that ESG performance indicators are included in the Board's performance evaluation, the linkage ratio is not disclosed.

- Insufficient Disclosure on Franchisee Compliance Management: Disclosure on how ESG review, supervision, and accountability are conducted across the vast network of franchisees is very limited.

Author：Qinger