Drone deliveries become reality as China races to take the lead

A JD.com Inc. drone sits during a package delivery demonstration at a launch pad of the company's drone testing site in Xi'an, China, on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. JD.com is racing companies from across the world to develop unmanned aerial vehicles with the strength, range and reliability to deliver goods on a large scale and solve the expensive “last-mile” problem for couriers. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The day after Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc’s mid-year sale, a company drone took off from a playground in the city of Xi’an to deliver one of the orders in a football-sized box to a village in the mountains to the south. 

The six-rotor craft is one of about 40 JD.com designed to cut delivery times for items such as smartphones and food to remote areas where land transport is too expensive or slow.