BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Each morning at a ZTO Express sorting center in Dengkou County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the hum of electric engines from driverless delivery vans signals a new working day.
Sacks of parcels are loaded neatly onto these self-driving vehicles. After courier Yang Yelong taps a few commands into a mobile app, the vehicle in front of him pulls away steadily, beginning its automated journey to the next delivery stop.
These vans, Yang explains, can travel up to 180 km per charge, and maintain a speed of 40 km/h under normal road conditions, with a maximum payload capacity of 800 kg.
Since June 2024, major delivery firms have deployed unmanned vans across Dengkou County, reaching urban areas, townships, and remote farms. The technology addresses logistical challenges in this vast, sparsely populated region, which accommodates 90,000 people in an area of 3,677 square kilometers. Compounding this geographical sprawl is a decline in the number of young people willing to work in delivery, which has driven up operational costs in logistics.
Yang's branch of ZTO Express has deployed four unmanned delivery vehicles. Two of them are assigned to urban routes, while the other two navigate the vast agricultural and pastoral areas on fixed schedules via two circuits per day.
Equipped with multiple radars and cameras, the vehicle can identify traffic signals and obstacles. Upon arriving at a pick-up stop, it will automatically cease operation and issue an audible notification to alert the staff for unloading, Yang said, adding that the staff can also monitor the vehicle's movement in real time and direct it to proceed to the next stop via the mobile app.
The impact is tangible. "A courier previously delivered just over 200 parcels per day. Now, with the unmanned vehicles, our daily delivery capacity has jumped to over 1,000," said Hou Junjie, head of the STO Express' branch in Dengkou. "They can operate in rain or snow, ensuring consistent service. This has truly lowered costs and improved efficiency."
The transformation in Dengkou reflects a nationwide intelligent upgrade in the courier sector. Industry data shows over 6,000 unmanned delivery vehicles had been deployed across China by mid-2025, handling hundreds of millions of parcels each day.
Beyond addressing rural logistics gaps, unmanned vehicles are also optimizing networks in the country's developed urban areas.
Hai'an city, in east China's Jiangsu Province, has launched the first comprehensive unmanned delivery vehicle demonstration zone in the Yangtze River Delta region, building an intelligent network offering express logistics, supermarket goods delivery, and food delivery services.
In June 2025, Neolix, a leading manufacturer of unmanned delivery vehicles in China, unveiled a regional base in Hai'an, and nearly 50 of its autonomous vans hit the road thereafter. Via a mobile app, staff can monitor the vans' status and dispatch routes in real time, and instruct them to turn back for re-delivery if some items are missed.
According to the latest data, China's express delivery volume reached 199 billion parcels in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 13.7 percent. The rapidly expanding industry has driven growing demand for unmanned logistics vehicles.
"Technology development and scenario verification have synergized to accelerate the scaling of unmanned delivery vehicles," said Yu Enyuan, founder of Neolix.
He noted that while vehicle firms focus on research and development of the vans, logistics companies optimize algorithms and verify models using their integrated warehousing-inspection-delivery systems, which helps unlock vast application potential.
As the technology matures domestically, leading Chinese companies are becoming global players.
In October 2025, Neolix obtained a driverless delivery license in the United Arab Emirates. At the beginning of 2026, it announced that it has reached strategic partnerships with Luxmea, a European electric cargo vehicle manufacturer, and Salvador Caetano Auto, a renowned Portuguese provider of automotive and mobility solutions, to further expand its presence in the European market.
Zelostech, another robovan developer based in Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, has secured a driverless logistics license in Singapore, and formed a joint venture with Emirates Post Group for providing Level-4 driverless logistics vehicle services. ■
