BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Senior political advisors highlighted the need for better regulation of courier services at a bi-weekly consultation session Thursday.

Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee agreed that the express delivery sector holds immense potential but is poorly regulated, lacks infrastructure and is riddled with security loopholes.

They called on the government to support the sector and delegate management powers to non-governmental associations, according to a statement issued after the session, presided over by CPPCC National Committee Chairman Yu Zhengsheng.

They also called for regulations to standardize the sector and protect customers' rights.

China's express delivery sector grew steadily in 2015 despite a slowing economy.

In 2015, businesses made 20.6 billion deliveries, 48 percent up from 2014, the State Post Bureau (SPB) said earlier this month.

The total revenue of the courier market hit 276 billion yuan (42.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, up 35 percent year on year, the SPB data showed.