Chinese food delivery company Ele.me has received approval from the Chinese government to be the first to use real - time delivery drones on Shanghai 's 17 available routes , which are located in Jinshan Industrial Park and connect about 100 vendors . So, customers won’t directly receive their food from the drones. Ele.me says delivery times will be reduced to around 20 minutes from 30 as the drones will be able to fly across 70 % of the original delivery route . The service will also be cheaper because of the decreased need for human drivers .
Chinese food delivery company Ele.me has received approval from the Chinese government to be the first to use real - time delivery drones on Shanghai 's 17 available routes , which are located in Jinshan Industrial Park and connect about 100 vendors . Ele.me says delivery times will be reduced to around 20 minutes from 30 as the drones will be able to fly across 70 % of the original delivery route . The service will also be cheaper because of the decreased need for human drivers .