Cainiao is Alibaba's logistics arm, and it handles the first leg of most AliExpress parcels. It is not a courier in the DHL sense — it is a network that consolidates parcels, books freight and hands off to national postal operators for final delivery.
If your tracking number starts LP followed by 14 digits, it is a Cainiao number.
What Cainiao actually does
Cainiao owns very few vehicles. It coordinates: collecting from sellers, sorting at Chinese hubs, consolidating parcels bound for the same country, booking air freight, and passing the parcel to USPS, Royal Mail, Correos, Canada Post or whoever delivers in your country. That handoff is why Cainiao tracking often appears to stop while the parcel is still moving.
The service tiers, and what each means for you
| Tier | Typical time | Tracking | Worth it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| AliExpress Choice (Cainiao fulfilled) | 5 to 10 days | Best, every 12 to 24 hours | Almost always |
| Cainiao Expedited Standard | 10 to 20 days | Full end to end | Good middle ground |
| AliExpress Standard Shipping | 15 to 30 days | Full end to end | The reliable default |
| Cainiao Super Economy Global | 30 to 55 days | Sparse — pickup and delivery only | Cheap items, no hurry |
| Cainiao Super Economy (seller) | 30 to 60 days | Often minimal | Lowest cost only |
The gap between the top and bottom tier is roughly six weeks, and the price difference is frequently under two dollars. That is the single most useful thing to know about Cainiao.
Reading a Cainiao tracking number
Cainiao numbers follow the format LP plus 14 digits, for example LP00478291635742. Unlike postal numbers they carry no country suffix, so the number alone will not tell you the destination.
Parcels frequently acquire a second number when they reach your country — a USPS number beginning 9, a Royal Mail number ending GB, and so on. Both numbers refer to the same parcel. Our tracking tool follows the handoff automatically and shows the local number when the carrier publishes it.
Why Cainiao tracking goes quiet
Consolidation. Your parcel waits for others heading the same way. Invisible in tracking, and can add several days.
The flight. No scanners in the air. One to three weeks of silence after "Departed from airport of origin" is routine.
The handoff. Cainiao's view often ends when the national carrier takes over, which is exactly when people assume the parcel has vanished.
Our guide on tracking that is not updating has the day counts at which silence becomes worth acting on.
Cainiao statuses you will see
| Status | Plain English |
|---|---|
| Order accepted by carrier | Booked, may not be collected yet |
| Shipment picked up | Cainiao physically has it |
| Arrived at sorting centre | Routine internal movement |
| Handed over to airline | Waiting for or on a flight |
| Arrived at destination country | Landed, heading to customs |
| Handed to local carrier | Now with your national postal service |
The full list is in our tracking status glossary.
Is Cainiao reliable?
For what it is, yes. Loss rates are low and the tracking on the paid tiers is genuinely good. The frustration comes almost entirely from the cheapest tiers, where sparse scanning is a deliberate cost saving rather than a fault — and from the handoff gap, which is a data problem rather than a delivery problem.