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Alibaba tests delivery drones

Hardy GraupnerFebruary 4, 2015

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has started testing delivery drones in three major cities, echoing similar activities by US rival Amazon. But the company is up against tough airspace control in the country.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EVHa
Screenshot YouKu / Taobao drone Source: youku.com
Image: youku.com

China's Alibaba on Wednesday started tests for its own drone delivery service as the firm did not want to fall behind a similar program launched by Amazon recently, Forbes Asia reported.

AFP news agency said the current tests were confined to just three days and a few areas of three Chinese mega-cities, Beijing, commercial hub Shanghai and Guangzhou in the south.

It added that deliveries only applied to one brand of ginger tea from one vendor, with a limit of 450 deliveries in total.

Unclear prospects

"This is a one-off campaign where ginger tea packets ordered on Taobao [Alibaba's consumer-to-consumer platform] can be delivered to designated cities or regions within an hour," Alibaba said in a note. "We're unsure about future possibilities yet, but this is the first drone delivery service campaign."

Airspace in China is strictly controlled by the military. The government allows limited use of civil drones for activities ranging from rescue to observation, but operators are required to apply for permission beforehand.

Delivery drone test

The drone testing comes just a week after Alibaba locked horns with a powerful government regulator which had accused the e-commerce giant of allowing "illegal" actions on its platforms, meaning the sale of non-genuine products.