First drone delivery license issued

Chinese logistics companies are speeding up competition in drone deliveries as China issued the first operating (pilot) license for commercial drone deliveries.

The East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Tuesday granted the license to a subsidiary of China's leading courier SF Express in Jiangxi province.

It allows the Shenzhen-based company to conduct commercial operation of drone deliveries in approved airspace nationwide. SF Express will initially continue the business in a pilot zone in Nankang district of Ganzhou, a city in Jiangxi province, where it has been testing drone deliveries since June 2017.