New Mobility in China (2025) II

Autonomous Delivery Robots (ADRs): A Hybrid Mode /.

Hangzhou, the epicenter of China’s e-commerce economy, is also among the first major cities to adopt autonomous delivery robots (ADRs), an emerging mobility technology with the potential to transform the existing e-commerce delivery landscape.

However, information on testing activities is difficult to find online. Based on the two most recent official sources, I visited two locations in Hangzhou that have tested ADRs. The first was in Qiantang District, where the two Sunfeng delivery stations mentioned in the news were closed during my visit. In the second location, Tonglu Town, known as the “hometown of Chinese express logistics,” a testing ADR in operation was observed (Figure 1).

Interestingly, instead of serving as the last-and-first-mile solution envisioned in previous research, the observed ADR operation functions as a middle leg, connecting the depot center to a district delivery station where human delivery workers take over. To gain a comprehensive understanding, I also visited the depot center and the government service center responsible for the testing and implementation of ADRs in Tonglu.

Figure 1

Government Service Center: A district, known as the Logistic Technology Service Center (Figure 2), has been established to provide dedicated spaces for administrative tasks, business negotiations, and demonstrations related to the implementation of various new urban technologies, including ADRs. The center primarily offers services related to industry, legal matters, bulk procurement, couriers’ hometown affairs, and more.

Figure 2

Depot Center: A dedicated industrial zone next to the highway entrance houses multiple depot centers for several logistics companies. The autonomous distribution system, in combination with human workers, first sorts goods (Figure 3) delivered by long-haul trucks. These sorted goods are then transported to district delivery stations via human-driven vehicles or ADRs.

Figure 3

District Delivery Station: A delivery station is responsible for receiving, storing, sorting, and distributing goods from the depot center, serving a specific residential district (Figure 4, left). Human delivery workers use the station to handle last-mile and first-mile deliveries within the neighborhood. The station is also equipped with smart lockers for customer self-service pickup.

Last-and-first-mile Delivery: Human drivers use electrified micro-delivery vehicles (Figure 4, bottom right) to transport goods to neighborhood smart lockers or directly to household doorsteps. One thing that caught my attention is the lack of dedicated parking spaces for micro-delivery vehicles, which occupy sidewalk space and part of the roadway, creating barriers for other road users.

Figure 4