A bird's eye view of villages in Xiongan New Area, Hebei Province File photo: VCG

A cutting-edge, intelligent delivery system that will use autonomous, magnetic-suspension capsule cars in an underground loop will be built in Xiongan New Area, North China's Hebei Province, in two to three years, a media report said. The project can be a good example for other cities in China, an analyst said Wednesday.

The solution, developed by Chinese company JD Logistics to help cities raise efficiency, was seen taking shape at the Global Smart Logistics Summit in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday, according to a recent report by Henan Business Daily.

The loop system will connect sites like logistics centers, supermarkets, warehouses and industrial parks, and deliver goods with autonomous, magnetic-suspension capsule cars. Deliveries can arrive directly at customers' doors in these capsules, read the report.

In the initial city planning of Xiongan, docking points for underground intelligent systems were set out in advance. Within the next two to three years, the new delivery system will appear in the city, the report said.

"Xiongan is a city of innovation. In the government's preparations, intelligent transport and logistics systems like this were definitely planned," Xu Yong, chief consultant of industry website cecss.com, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Intelligent logistics are being given great importance in the building of the city. In a new city like Xiongan, such projects are easier to promote, the costs are relatively low and they could provide good examples for other cities, Xu said.

In developed cities that already have relatively complete infrastructure, JD Logistics' underground delivery system will be combined with established public transport systems like subways, and bridge the "last mile" to users, the report said.

The underground logistics system project was first announced by JD Logistics in April. The company told a logistics forum that the project was commissioned by the local government. It had launched simulation tests in trial areas and started underground net designs, according to media reports.

The prototype of the system connects underground loops with buildings, enabling packages to reach customers' buildings through an automatic delivery process in real-life scenarios, the company said, adding that a special research institute had been established to study and improve the specific plans.

Such a project will have a high cost at the initial design and construction stage, but will significantly improve efficiency and reduce costs in the future, and it's in line with the right development trends, Xu said.


Newspaper headline: Xiongan plans underground, autonomous delivery loop system: report