Full Breakdown
JD.com Announces Plan to Replace 700,000 Delivery Workers with Robots
6/26/2026, 10:44:03 PM
Core Announcement: Robots to Take Over Deliveries
JD.com’s founder and chairman Liu Qiangdong (also known as Richard Liu) told the 2026 APEC China CEO Forum in Beijing that “robots will handle all delivery tasks, and delivery workers will no longer be needed.” He projected that the company’s roughly 700,000 couriers will eventually be replaced by autonomous delivery machines. To mitigate job loss, JD.com has signed contracts with about 120 schools nationwide to retrain the workforce for robot-maintenance and management roles.
Background & Context: JD.com’s Logistics Network and AI Momentum
JD.com operates a proprietary logistics and delivery system that includes a food-delivery arm with 150,000 full-time riders. The firm has long invested in AI-driven automation, and the current announcement aligns with broader Chinese efforts to modernise the labour market through technology.
Key Figure: Liu Qiangdong, Founder and Chairman of JD.com
Liu Qiangdong founded JD.com in 1998 and has overseen its expansion into e-commerce, cloud services, and logistics. At the APEC forum he emphasized a personal responsibility to protect the livelihoods of the “700,000 brothers” who currently perform last-mile deliveries.
Timeline of the Announcement
- June 21, 2026 – Liu Qiangdong delivers the robot-replacement vision at the APEC China CEO Forum in Beijing.
- June 23, 2026 – Media outlets (Sing Tao Daily, Guancha.cn) report the plan and the partnership with 120 schools.
Data & Statistics: Workforce Scale and Gig-Economy Growth
- 700,000 JD.com delivery couriers projected for eventual automation.
- 120 schools contracted to provide technical retraining.
- 150,000 full-time food-delivery riders already on JD.com contracts.
- 320 million gig workers in China this year, up from 200 million five years earlier (China Center for New Employment Forms).
Why It Matters: Potential Labour-Market and Economic Impact
If JD.com’s robot rollout proceeds, the displacement of a large blue-collar cohort could intersect with China’s high youth-unemployment rates, amplifying social and economic pressures. Conversely, successful upskilling could create a new technical workforce supporting autonomous logistics, contributing to the country’s structural labour-market transformation.
Official Statements & Responses
JD.com’s press release confirmed the partnership with over 120 educational institutions to deliver curricula in robot repair, diagnostics, and fleet management. The company framed the initiative as a proactive “career transition” rather than a layoff strategy, noting alignment with national policies encouraging automation-driven productivity gains. Chinese media highlighted the plan’s novelty, noting no comparable large-scale redeployment in the industry.
Criticism & Opposition
Analysts and commentators questioned the feasibility of retraining 700,000 workers within a realistic timeframe, citing the absence of precedent for such a massive upskilling effort. Labor advocates warned that accelerated automation could exacerbate youth unemployment, especially given the rapid growth of the gig-worker pool.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
- Timeframe: Liu offered no specific schedule for robot deployment, leaving the transition horizon ambiguous.
- Training Outcomes: No data were provided on enrollment numbers, curriculum depth, or projected completion rates for the 120 schools.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It will definitely be robots delivering packages. But I really don’t want our 700,000 brothers to go without food and without jobs,” — Liu Qiangdong, Founder & Chairman, JD.com
- “In the future, robots will handle all delivery tasks, and delivery workers will no longer be needed.” — Liu Qiangdong, Founder & Chairman, JD.com
- “I do not want our 700,000 brothers (delivery workers) to lose their livelihoods,” — Liu Qiangdong, Founder & Chairman, JD.com
- “When a machine breaks down, a human must eventually handle it,” — Liu Qiangdong, Founder & Chairman, JD.com
- “JD.com will move our brothers away from physical labor that requires them to travel back and forth in wind and rain, and transition them into technical roles.” — Liu Qiangdong, Founder & Chairman, JD.com
What’s Next: Upcoming Steps and Monitoring
JD.com plans to launch the first batch of training programs by late 2026, with pilot robot delivery trials slated for early 2027 in select Chinese cities. Government regulators are expected to monitor the rollout for compliance with labour-rights standards, while industry observers will track the scalability of the upskilling effort and its impact on the broader gig-economy.
