Meituan secures China’s first nationwide drone delivery license, ramping up competition with Google Wing · TechNode

According to China Daily, Chinese on-demand delivery giant Meituan’s self-developed fourth-generation drone has passed a review by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), earning Meituan the country’s first nationwide operating certificate for low-altitude logistics. Engineered for extreme weather, the drone can operate in temperatures from -20°C to 50°C, and handle moderate rain, snow, winds up to level 6, and low-light environments – conditions that reportedly cover over 97% of Chinese urban areas.
Meituan’s drone program began in 2017. By the end of 2024, the company had flown over 450,000 commercial drone deliveries across 53 routes in cities like Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing, serving a wide range of locations from office parks and campuses to scenic areas and public libraries. According to ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2025 report, Meituan’s total commercial drone delivery volume has now tied with Google’s Wing, ranking the two firms as co-leaders in the global drone logistics market. [China Daily, in Chinese]

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