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(Yicai Global) July 21 -- JD.com Inc. [NASDAQ:JD] has entered into a partnership with the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan to set up 185 drone airports there as the e-commerce giant works to make 24-hour deliveries available nationwide, the firm's founder, Liu Qiangdong, said yesterday at Lenovo Tech World 2017.
A courier can deliver 150 parcels per day with the traditional technology that is currently being used, Phoenix New Media quoted Liu as saying in a speech at the conference. JD.com must rely on technological developments including the application of unmanned warehouses, trucks and aerial vehicles as a gateway to future growth, he said.
With the advancement of artificial intelligence technology, JD.com will probably keep its employee headcount unchanged or even reduce it to 80,000, Liu said.
JD.com currently has over 140,000 full-time workers, the company's latest data show.