Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced Tuesday that it has used unmanned aerial¹ vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, to deliver packages over water for the first time.

 

中国电商巨头阿里巴巴周二宣布，该公司首次使用无人飞行器——俗称无人机——飞越水域运送包裹。
 

 

Three drones carrying a total six boxes of passion fruit with a combined weight of around 12 kilograms flew from Putian in east China's Fujian Province to nearby Meizhou Island on October 31, the company said.

 

Flying into a strong wind, the drones took nine minutes to make the five-kilometer crossing. Each drone can carry up to seven kilograms.

 

The drones were jointly² developed by Alibaba's delivery arm Cainiao Network, the company's rural shopping platform Rural Taobao, and a domestic³ technology firm.

 

Zeng Jinmei, an online store owner based on the island, said that the drone delivery service will cut the transportation time by half and save logistic costs.

 

Alibaba has prepared extra drones ahead of the upcoming November 11"Singles' Day" shopping festival.

 

The day, which can be compared to Black Friday in the United States, became a shopping festival in China after Alibaba launched a major promotional campaign in 2009.

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