(Yicai Global) Dec. 27 -- S.F. Holding Co. [SHE:002352], a leading logistics firm in China, for the first time successfully completed a demonstration for rapid delivery of emergency supplies with a large-sized unmanned aerial vehicle in the southwestern Yunnan province yesterday.

The demonstration simulated an emergency repair task for a communications base station after a disaster, the state-run Shenzhen Economic Daily reported. The drone took off from an airport in Yunnan and reached the affected base station in 30 minutes. It lowered the altitude to about 300 meters and then automatically delivered a pod with the help of an equipment.

The UAV is currently one of the world's largest logistics drones, with a fuselage of 10 meters, 20 meters wingspan and carrying capacity of 1.2 tons. It has a maximum speed of 250 kilometers per hour, with a flight range of 3,000 kilometers.

SF had previously launched a variety of small and medium-sized UAVs and the company's UAV team has begun to take shape, Li Dongqi, vice president of SF said. The company will also launch more tonnage logistics drones in the future to cover remote cities, he added.

UAV applications in the logistics industry can facilitate transport in underdeveloped areas to provide rapid transport for agricultural products and medicines in remote areas, among others, Li noted. In addition, UAVs can save substantial manpower costs when there is a shortage of pilots, he added.