China's First "Air-Ground Coordinated" Logistics Center Launches in Shenzhen's Bao'an District
Shenzhen is once again whizzing its way to the future with the launch of a super smart logistics hub. With drone take-off and landing platforms and intelligent parcel-sorting systems, this new hub blends traditional delivery with cutting-edge low-altitude drone logistics.
On February 14, as a white composite-wing drone carrying a 10-kilogram parcel swiftly ascended into the sky and headed northwest from Xin' an Subdistrict, Bao'an District, Shenzhen, the Fengyi Bao' an Low-Altitude Smart Logistics Operations Center was officially inaugurated. This facility integrates traditional logistics' mature parcel-handling capabilities with the efficiency of low-altitude drone transportation, providing comprehensive services for smart city operations.
According to information released by the Bao' an District government, this marks China's first “air-ground coordinated” smart logistics hub. By merging traditional and low-altitude logistics operations at a single site, it significantly enhances delivery efficiency.
The two-story steel-structured center features a rooftop drone takeoff/landing pad, a second-floor UAV command and dispatch center alongside a smart city service hub, and a ground-floor express delivery smart station. The site also includes dedicated zones for drone operations, unmanned vehicle transfers, and vehicle parking.
Inside the center, the hum of drone rotors fills the air as multiple UAVs with varying ranges and payload capacities operate in tandem to meet short-, medium-, and long-distance delivery needs. The command center, acting as the facility' s “brain,” monitors real-time data such as flight frequency, duration, and cargo weight, while staff track UAV statuses via live feeds from landing points. Chen Xiaohui, Fengyi' s Director of Drone Government Affairs, explained that the center employs diverse drone transfer methods. Most parcels arriving via UAV are sorted and delivered by SF Express outlets, while others are transported via automated “drone + unmanned vehicle” lockers or stored in self-service pickup lockers for customer retrieval.
“As drone locker networks expand and building delivery robots scale up, we aim to achieve fully unmanned parcel delivery in the future,” Chen said. “Currently, parcels still require transfers from other Shenzhen stations. However, with operational refinements and technological advancements, drones could soon fly directly from Bao' an to cities like Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Dongguan, establishing a two-hour logistics network across the Greater Bay Area.”
Pic: Internet
