Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city recently signed a cooperative contract on intelligent technology applications with JD Group, a leading enterprise in unmanned technology. JD delivery robots were introduced to the ecological town as a pilot of intelligent unmanned technology applied in a complex urban environment. Another application of the intelligent technology -- an unmanned supermarket co-founded by the two sides -- has also been opened.

Situated in Tianjin Binhai New District, Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city was co-built by the Chinese and Singapore governments, and is China’s first demonstrative area for green development.

JD delivery robots have attracted great attention since they were put into operation. Their automatic drive core technology allows them to automatically avoid barriers and pedestrians and turn corners, while their advanced AI, environment-sensing, high-precision positioning and decision control technology means they can deliver packages smoothly in the ecological town’s Wantong district, Wanke district, administrative committee area and animation park. Later, the delivery robots will be used in all of Eco-city.

Xiao Jun, VP of JD Group, said that JD ran intelligent logistics projects of unmanned warehouses, unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned road vehicles in 2017 and will expand intelligent projects to more areas. “The cooperation with Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is a way to assist Tianjin’s construction of an intelligent urban service system, potentially making it the first city in the world driven by intelligent logistics,” he added. 

JD’s unmanned supermarket has also attracted many visitors. The 170-square meter-supermarket has more than 800 commodities including food, beverages and articles for daily use. It is equipped with face recognition, intelligent pricing, unmanned cash registers and many other advanced technologies. Customers can correlate their ID information with payment information, and enter the supermarket by the face recognition system. When they are finished shopping, they can pay by scanning the codes on their chosen products. 

The supermarket in Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is the first unmanned automated supermarket in North China to rely on the Internet of Things, AI and biometric Identification. Different from Beijing JD’s headquarters store, the unmanned supermarket is three times as large as the headquarters’ and uses improved facial recognition technology so that the shopping process is simpler, safer and more convenient. It's also the largest unmanned supermarket JD has ever operated.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city. Over the past 10 years, Eco-city has made a lot of effort to attract and nurture internet high-tech projects. So far, it has attracted 1,300 internet enterprises and the industrial aggregate effect has steadily improved. At the same time, Eco-city is pushing forward green and intelligent construction according to the requirements for a national green development demonstration zone, fully implementing the intelligent application projects. 

JD’s intelligent delivery project and unmanned supermarket have further enriched Eco-city’s intelligence and upgraded its pilot demonstration role. 

According to its director Eco-city’s next step will be to further cooperate with leading enterprises on 5G trials, urban data resources, standardized residential community systems and slow road systems, trying to construct a prosperous and livable intelligent city.

In the mean time, Eco-city will launch pilot projects on intelligent transportation, smart houses and energy supply. Eco-city is mapping out a strategy to construct a fully intelligent city in the next 5 years. The planning is expected to be finished in the first half of this year.