By Patrick Costello

Deutsche Post AG's (DPW.XE) DHL Express business has entered into a strategic partnership with the Chinese aerial-vehicle company EHang to jointly launch a fully automated, intelligent drone-based delivery service in urban areas in China, the German postal company said Thursday.

The agreement makes DHL the first international express company to provide such a smart-drone delivery service in China, Deutsche Post said.

The customized delivery route covers a distance of around five miles between the DHL service center in Liaobu in China's Guangdong Province and customer premises, Deutsche Post said. The service reduces delivery time to eight minutes from 40 minutes, saving costs of up to 80% per delivery.

DHL will continue identifying new routes for clients and work closely with EHang to develop a second generation of drones to improve capacity and range for express deliveries, it added.

Write to Patrick Costello at patrick.costello@dowjones.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 16, 2019 06:41 ET (10:41 GMT)