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Chinese Online Retailer Developing One-ton Delivery Drones

by Associated Press

   BEIJING --

   China's biggest online retailer, JD.com Inc., announced plans Monday to
   develop drone aircraft capable of carrying a ton or more for
   long-distance deliveries.
   The company said it will test the drones on a network it is developing
   to cover the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi. It said they will
   carry consumer goods to remote areas and farm produce to cities.
   JD.com, headquartered in Beijing, says it made its first deliveries to
   customers using smaller drones in November. Other e-commerce brands
   including Amazon.com Inc. also are experimenting with drones for
   delivery.

   "We envision a network that will be able to efficiently transport goods
   between cities, and even between provinces, in the future," the chief
   executive of JD's logistics business group, Wang Zhenhui, said in a
   statement.

   JD.com operates its own nationwide network of thousands of delivery
   stations manned by 65,000 employees. The company says it has 235
   million regular customers.
   Drones are part of the industry's response to the challenge of
   expanding to rural areas where distances and delivery costs rise.
   Drone delivery in China and other countries faces hurdles including
   airspace restrictions and the need to avoid collisions with birds and
   other obstacles. In the United States, regulators allow commercial
   drone flights only on an experimental basis.
   A 1-ton payload is heavier than what most drones available now can
   carry, though some can carry hundreds of kilograms and major drone
   makers are working on devices able to carry more.
   China is home to the world's biggest manufacturer of civilian drones,
   DJI, in the southern city of Shenzhen.
   JD.com said its planned drone delivery network in Shaanxi would cover a
   300-kilometer (200-mile) radius and have drone air bases throughout the
   province.
   The company said it will set up a research-and-development campus with
   the Xi'an National Civil Aerospace Industrial Base to develop and
   manufacture drones.
   JD.com earlier reported first-quarter revenue rose 41.2 percent over a
   year ago to 76.2 billion yuan ($11.1 billion). It reported profit of
   843.1 million yuan ($122.4 million) compared with a loss of 864.9
   million yuan a year earlier.