Here in Norway, the biggest issue is that China is still officially a developing country, so the Norwegian state subsidizes the freight cost. In practice it's cheaper too send a letter or parcel from China to Norway than doing the same within Norway.
It's the same in the US. If I'm in no hurry I often buy small electronic parts from China simply because the whole thing is cheaper than the cheapest shipping buying from a retailer in the US.
Wasn't all this UPU stuff written before every country had their own flag airline? China has their own airlines with routes to many places that could be hauling their parcels without the subsidies
