A member of staff in a modern agricultural park of northwest China's Shaanxi Province loads freshly picked fruit onto a drone. (Photo/Xinhua)

As more countries devote time and effort to advancing the use of drones in logistics, China has shifted its position from trying to catch up with the rest of the world to becoming a global frontrunner. Chinese companies have recently become the first in the world to use drones as standard delivery tools, Economic Daily reported on Sept.26, 2018.

JD.com, one of China’s leading e-commerce companies, launched its drone program in 2015, and “since 2016, JD has become the first in the world to realize the normal operation of delivery services performed by drones,” said Liu Yanguang, general manager of the Unmanned Vehicle R&D Center of JD’s X Business Division.

JD has built hundreds of air routes for drone delivery in many Chinese provinces, including Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Hainan, and Qinghai, with hundreds of remote mountain villages included in the total flight distance of over 80,000 kilometers, according to Liu.

As the manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles becomes easier in China, more companies are swarming the market. E-commerce companies such as JD and Suning, couriers like China Post, SF Express and Cainiao, and UAV manufacturer Shenzhen Smart Drone UAV Company have entered the market one after another to compete for a market share.

China Post tested its first drone delivery in 2016. A year later, SF Express, the second largest delivery services company in China after China Post, also finished its first test flight of a large-scale drone, while ZTO Express, another sizable Chinese courier, completed its first trial flight in 2017.

Additionally, China has pushed forward the establishment of a state level UAV standard system. In 2017, China released its Guidelines for the Construction of Standard System for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Fence of Unmanned Aircraft System, and Interface Specifications of Unmanned Aircraft and Cloud System, making it the first country in the world to release such industry standards.

According to the World Logistics UAV Industry Development Annual Report (2017-2018) released by JD this August, the development of UAVs in the field of logistics is gaining considerable momentum around the world. The US comes out on top, with Europe following closely, while China has transformed its position from chasing the other big players to becoming a pacesetter.

“The booming market has accelerated regulation and supervision in the UAV industry around the world,” said Liu. He disclosed that with the three-tier smart logistics network of “main line - branch line - distribution terminal” becoming the mainstream industry layout, drones for delivery will see ever accelerated industrialization over the next three years, and branch line drones will become a focal point of global competition.