June 10, Kathmandu- Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba plans to develop self-driving trucks with logistics subsidiary Cainiao, Chief Technology Officer Cheng Li said on Thursday.

Cheng also said Cainiao aims to introduce 1,000 autonomous delivery robots in China over the next year.

The announcement comes as dozens of startups, automakers and large technology firms, such as internet search leader Baidu, accelerate work on self-driving vehicle systems, which are widely expected to bring a sea change to the transportation industry.