JD.com and Siasun cooperate on smart logistics

JD.com's booth at 2016 CESAsia held on May 11, 2016 in Shanghai [Photo/IC]

China's e-commerce giant JD.com Inc joined hands with the country's largest robot manufacturer in a bid to increase the efficiency of sorting and delivering online orders in the face of the rising labor costs.

JD.com inked a strategic partnership agreement with Siasun Robot & Automation Co on Friday. The two companies said they will cooperate comprehensively in developing a smart logistical solution, including jointly developing some robots and drones to tailor to the needs of China's booming e-commerce industry.

"Online shopping in China is still in rapid development. But there are a lot of challenges in land resources and labor cost. It is high time for us to increase the efficiency of logistics amid the rising scale of the online shopping market," said Zhang Chen, chief technology officer of the Nasdaq-listed JD.com.

The announcement came on the same day that JD.com set up JDX, a new business unit that is dedicated to using technology to make the logistics industry "smart". Apart from Siasun Robot & Automation, the Beijing-based online direct sales giant said it sets up an open platform to cooperate with more leading smart equipment manufacturers to upgrade the logistics industry.

JD.com said in a statement that it will give its partners access to the huge pool of data and rich experience that the e-commerce company gathered over the past several years.

JD is also setting up a lab in Beijing to develop its drone delivery technology, warehouse robots and driverless delivery trucks.