https://english.news.cn/20260206/73b59beb849544bfa3ede7751161c3d5/c.html
In China, the courier sector is being upgraded. Industry data shows over 6,000 unmanned delivery vehicles had been deployed across China by mid-2025, handling hundreds of millions of parcels each day. The vans can travel up to 180 km per charge, and maintain a speed of 40 km/h under normal road conditions, with a maximum payload capacity of 800 kg.
As an example, since June 2024 major delivery firms have deployed unmanned vans across Dengkou County, reaching urban areas, townships, and remote farms. The technology addresses logistical challenges in this vast, sparsely populated region, which accommodates 90,000 people in an area of 3,677 square kilometers. Compounding this geographical sprawl is a decline in the number of young people willing to work in delivery, which has driven up operational costs in logistics.
One of the companies, ZTO Express, has deployed four unmanned delivery vehicles. Two of them are assigned to urban routes, while the other two navigate the vast agricultural and pastoral areas on fixed schedules via two circuits per day. Equipped with multiple radars and cameras, the vehicle can identify traffic signals and obstacles. Upon arriving at a pick-up stop, it will automatically cease operation and issue an audible notification to alert the staff for unloading. Staff can also monitor the vehicle’s movement in real time and direct it to proceed to the next stop via the mobile app. For comparison, a courier previously delivered just over 200 parcels per day. Now, with the unmanned vehicles, daily delivery capacity has jumped to over 1,000. The vans operate in rain or snow, ensuring consistent service. This has lowered costs and improved efficiency.
Beyond addressing rural logistics gaps, unmanned vehicles are also optimizing networks in developed urban areas. Hai’an city in Jiangsu Province has launched the first comprehensive unmanned delivery vehicle demonstration zone in the Yangtze River Delta region, building an intelligent network offering express logistics, supermarket goods delivery, and food delivery services. In June 2025, Neolix, a leading manufacturer of unmanned delivery vehicles in China, unveiled a regional base in Hai’an, and nearly 50 of its autonomous vans hit the road. Via a mobile app, staff can monitor the vans’ status and dispatch routes in real time, and instruct them to turn back for re-delivery if some items are missed.
As the technology matures domestically, leading Chinese companies are becoming global players. In October 2025, Neolix obtained a driverless delivery license in the United Arab Emirates. At the beginning of 2026, it announced that it has reached strategic partnerships with Luxmea, a European electric cargo vehicle manufacturer, and Salvador Caetano Auto, a renowned Portuguese provider of automotive and mobility solutions, to further expand its presence in the European market. Zelostech, another robovan developer based in Suzhou City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, has secured a driverless logistics license in Singapore, and formed a joint venture with Emirates Post Group for providing Level-4 driverless logistics vehicle services.
