J&T Express faces risk of tougher penalties as China opens formal safety probe

China’s postal regulator has opened an investigation into J&T Express over failures in safety management, escalating scrutiny of the courier operator and raising investors’ concerns about the impact of heavier penalties, higher compliance costs and safety oversight on its international operations. The State Post Bureau said on Thursday it had formally launched a case against J&T Express Co after multiple work process safety accidents occurred this year at enterprises using the J&T brand, business name and delivery waybills. Shares of Hong Kong-listed J&T Global Express slumped as much as 11.5 per cent to HK$7.85 after the announcement, before trimming losses to close at HK$8.35, down about 5 per cent on Thursday. The regulator said repeated inspections had uncovered safety hazards at operational sites and accused J&T of failing to adequately oversee safety management across related entities. It said the company had not implemented unified safety protection measures as required. The probe marked a “significant escalation” from previous warnings and small fines, according to Yi Zhang, founder and analyst at iiMedia Research. “This is a formal administrative enforcement process that targets headquarters-level management responsibility,” Zhang said. J&T could face substantial fines or operational rectification orders if violations were confirmed, he added. J&T China, the group’s mainland branch, said in a statement on Thursday that it “sincerely accepted” the investigation and would take it as a “profound wake-up call” and fully cooperate with regulators. The company acknowledged the shortcomings in its oversight of some enterprises operating under the J&T brand and said it had established a special task force to conduct safety inspections and rectify risks. The action marks the latest regulatory scrutiny faced by the courier operator, which has rapidly grown across China and Southeast Asia. In December 2025, a J&T operation in Hunan province was fined 100,000 yuan (US$13,900) after service disruptions and parcel backlogs affected its delivery network. J&T faced environmental scrutiny in early 2024 over excessive heavy metals in its courier collection bags, and was summoned in 2023 by the State Post Bureau along with rival courier SF Express following a number of workplace accidents. The postal authority cited shortcomings in safety responsibility, equipment protection and employee training. “A low-price expansion model combined with a loosely managed franchise network creates inherent weaknesses in safety management,” iiMedia’s Zhang said, adding that pressure to prioritise volume, speed and efficiency could lead to underinvestment in safety measures. Chelsey Tam, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said she expected to see higher costs in complying with the safety standards. “More importantly, it raises a question [as to whether] J&T operations in other countries are safe and sound,” she added. Founded in Indonesia in 2015 by Chinese entrepreneur Jie Li, J&T expanded aggressively across Southeast Asia before entering mainland China in 2020. Its aggressive pricing strategy helped it become China’s fifth-largest courier by parcel volume in 2025, though rivals have long criticised the company for intensifying industry price competition. The courier raised HK$3.52 billion (US$450 million) through its Hong Kong initial public offering in 2023.