Food flight: Shanghai deliveries take off

Online food delivery giant ele.me said on Tuesday it has been granted permission to use unmanned drones.

This new service, which is the first of its kind in China, would cut food delivery time to an average of 20 minutes. Regular delivery times range from 30 minutes to over an hour.

In all, 17 air routes, all of which are in an industrial park in Shanghai's suburban Jinshan district, have been approved, ele.me said, and will cover around 58 square kilometers and serve more than 100 merchants.