Chinese e-commerce company JD.com is taking its drone delivery system to Japan. Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce giant, just announced a partnership with JD that will see its drones and unmanned vehicles become a part of Rakuten’s own unmanned delivery service efforts. JD has been operating drones in its native China for a number of years, and it has wider expansion plans, having recently gained a regional-level operating license. Its other human-less tech includes self-operating trucks, automated warehouses and unmanned stores, and it recently picked Indonesia for its first overseas drone pilot. Rakuten has been offering drone delivery in Japan since 2016 and unmanned vehicle trials since 2018. It said that working with JD — which claims to have racked up 400,000 minutes of delivery flight time — will “accelerate the development and commercialization” of its human-free last-mile delivery efforts.
A partnership between Asian e - commerce companies JD.com and Rakuten will facilitate drone deliveries in Japan . In its native China , JD has been running an unmanned delivery service for several years , including self - driving trucks , automated warehouses and unmanned stores . JD will now transfer that experience to Japan 's Rakuten , which has run its own drone delivery business since 2016 . The aim is to develop and implement a more efficient toll - free last - minute delivery system .