(Yicai Global) July 15 -- Chinese takeout giant Meituan is planning to increase its investment in unmanned delivery after its largest shareholder, Tencent Holdings, injected USD400 million into the company.

Tencent bought 1.1 million newly issued shares or 0.2 percent of shares outstanding for HKD273.78 (USD35.30) apiece, the Beijing-based lifestyle service provider said in a statement on July 13. The price was 5.5 percent lower than the closing price of yesterday.

On April 20, Meituan said it will seek nearly USD10 billion through private placement and convertible bonds to double down on drone delivery development. It kicked off a driverless delivery service in Beijing's Shunyi district last April after starting studying autonomous driving as early as 2016.

The latest fundraiser must have attracted other participants whose names have not been disclosed. Shenzhen-based tech giant Tencent's shareholding has dropped to 17.2 percent from the earlier 17.7 percent, yet remaining Meituan's biggest stockholder, according to the statement published on July 13.

Developing unmanned delivery technologies can improve efficiency, Zheng Lei, digital economy lab director at the Hong Kong International New Economic Research Institute, said to Yicai Global.

Meituan already has a vehicle prototype but needs more money to accelerate large-scale production amid the prospects of the country's rapidly growing autopilot sector, Zheng added.

Meituan's stock price [HK: 3690] was 0.5 percent up at HKD291.60 in the afternoon.

Editor: Zhang Yushuo, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi