Alibaba is getting on the delivery drone bandwagon. The company announced Wednesday that it is testing drones designed to bring products to customers.
The move puts the Chinese e-commerce company in competition with Amazon, which announced in 2013 that it would start testing its own drone delivery service called "Prime Air," though Amazon has been facing regulatory issues on the manner, according to CNBC.
Alibaba wrote in a blog post on its website Alizila that its drone delivery trial will focus on delivering ginger tea packets and be held in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The company said it will be able to deliver ginger tea within one hour.
Alibaba will receive some help with the project as it will work with delivery company Shanghai YTO Express Logistics Co., Bloomberg reported.
The company said in an email that 450 Chinese customers have volunteered for the one-time drone tests, which will have remote-controlled helicopters deliver 50 packages from the company's division in Taobao.
The tests will be held from Feb. 4-6 and will have packages dropped off not directly at a consumer's front door, but outside residential buildings for consumers to collect, CNBC reported.
The program comes at a time when people in China faces strict regulations for using commercial drones, with operators requiring permission from the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) of China to use them.
Alibaba has acknowledged that bringing delivery drones to full-scale use would take some time, saying in the blog post that "aviation authorities in China and the U.S. are pondering regulations to govern such activities," CNBC reported. A company spokesperson said Alibaba follows CAA's rules for operating drones.
