Retail in Asia

JD.com tests drone delivery in rural China

Online Chinese retailer JD.com announced Thursday it is conducting trial deliveries using unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as drones, and plan to roll it out for delivery in rural China.

JD.com’s CEO Richard Liu Qiangdong said late last year that the company is developing drone delivery to meet the rising retail demand in China’s rural areas, where complex terrain and underdeveloped infrastructure have compromised timely human courier delivery.

JD.com said the drone service will not get packages directly to shoppers but will instead help transport bundles of items from its distribution stations to 150,000 representatives mobilized across rural China who will then get them to shoppers.