China’s biggest courier firm could soon deliver parcels by drone
SF Holding, China’s largest listed courier provider and parent of SF Express, has been granted a licence to operate logistics drones in the country
Chinese courier company SF Holding said it has won a licence to operate drones, opening up a potential new frontier for package delivery in the world’s second-largest economy.
SF, the nation’s largest listed courier provider by market value and parent of SF Express, said late on Tuesday that one of its units was granted China’s first ever drone operation licence and that the firm was now legally able to operate logistics drones.
Two phone calls to the Civil Aviation Administration of China were not answered on Wednesday, when SF’s shares jumped more than 5 per cent, the biggest contributor to gains on the Shenzhen Composite Index.
Package delivery is key in the world’s biggest consumer market, where the rise of e-commerce and mobile payments has shifted shopping for everything from groceries to factory parts online.
More than 40 billion parcels were shipped in mainland China last year – that is estimated to be about 110 million packages a day – and volumes are expected to reach 49 billion parcels this year, according to the State Post Bureau, China’s delivery-industry watchdog.