JD Logistics opened 78 routes in Zizhong in June and has since expanded the network to 131.

　　Drones handle only the last section of the journey. Trucks still carry parcels over long distances and from county-level facilities to township stations.

　　This service also relies on facilities and staff on the ground. Township landing sites and village collection points have been set up, with local workers handling parcel collection and sorting. Sichuan has also introduced financial support for eligible low-altitude logistics projects.

　　Similar services are being used where water, rather than hills, slows deliveries. In east China's Jiangsu Province, 32 rural drone routes are in regular operation. One route to Mudun Island on Hongze Lake has cut delivery time by approximately 50 minutes compared with the previous ferry-based service.

　　This photo taken in April 2026 shows a drone of JD Logistics taking part in the harvest of sweet cherry in Hanyuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua)

　　MAKING RETURN TRIPS COUNT

　　Most drones flying into villages still fly back empty. According to JD Logistics, about 99 percent of return flights on rural routes carry no cargo.

　　Quxian is trying to change this.

　　In August, local villager Yu Fengying sent several kilograms of peanuts and sweet potato starch noodles to relatives and friends outside the area. Instead of riding an electric scooter to town, she used a drone that had just delivered parcels to the village.

　　About eight minutes later, the package reached a central landing point in town and entered the conventional express network.