Meituan unveils plans for drone delivery network

Chinese food delivery behemoth Meituan announced its partnership with the local government of Jinshan district in east China’s Shanghai to build a demonstration center for drone deliveries at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference held in the metropolis on July 8.

Photo shows a drone independently developed by Meituan. (Securities Daily/Xu Jie)

The center will run pilot operations for an urban logistics network for low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. It’s the first time that the company revealed details of its drone delivery network, which will ensure that each drone can send an order to a destination within a radius of three kilometers in 15 minutes.

The network is expected to be used in various scenarios including residential communities, shopping malls and office buildings, said Mao Yinian, head of Meituan’s drone delivery unit, adding that drones and couriers would work seamlessly together to deliver orders.

“We believe that we can enhance efficiency and reduce costs through the application of technologies and the collaboration of delivery riders, robots and drones,” Mao added.

Meituan started to explore drone delivery opportunities in 2017. In early 2021, the company’s drones delivered meals to customers in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, for the first time.

Meituan also used drones to deliver needed supplies to residents in Nanshan district of Shenzhen during a COVID-19-induced lockdown.

As of June this year, the company’s drones had completed over 200,000 flight tests and delivered over 2,500 orders.

So far, Meituan has completed the preliminary development stages for its drones and dispatching systems, with over 90 percent of its core systems and components developed in-house.