(Yicai) June 6 -- Chinese drone maker DJI Technology has made the first round-trip transport drone test on a route about 5,300 to 6,000 meters above sea level, a new record in the transport altitude of civil drones.

The test site was on the south slope of Mount Everest, passing through the world's highest icefall, Khumbu Icefall, DJI told Yicai yesterday. The local area relies on manpower and helicopters to transport garbage and food, oxygen cylinders, and other supplies for mountaineering, it added.

Manpower services hold certain risks, and helicopters have requirements for altitude and weather during flight, DJI pointed out, noting that drones provide another option for transport.

Drones will have advantages in places where it is difficult to solve problems using traditional transport methods, a technical director at DJI told Yicai. The latest test aims to use drones in high-altitude rural mountains and mountain engineering scenarios below the test altitude, he added.

Drones are technologically mature enough for commercial use in some less developed scenarios away from cities, the director said, adding that the market maturity still needs to be gradually developed.

Drones for agriculture and forestry are mature in China, led by DJI and another Chinese firm XAG. Drone makers are seeking new use scenarios in addition to the consumer market and some mature industries.

Express delivery and logistics account for only 8 percent of civil drone demand in China, but the number of logistics drones has been rapidly increasing, surging by over 25,000 units in 2022, according to a recent report by China Securities.

Chinese drone makers mainly ally with logistics and transportation companies, including SF Holding, Meituan, and JD.Com. SF recently said that on average it moves 20,000 parcels a day in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Editor: Martin Kadiev