Alibaba's logistics arm to buy stake in Chinese robovan developer Zelostech

Reuters

Thu, January 29, 2026 astatine 6:40 AM CST 1 min read

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Chinese robovan developer Zelostech said connected Thursday that e-commerce elephantine Alibaba's ​logistics arm, Cainiao, volition instrumentality a ‌stake successful the company.

The woody volition make a concern valued ‌around $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal, which archetypal reported the news, said.

A spokesperson for the robovan developer said "Cainiao volition not go a controlling ⁠shareholder of Zelostech."

A ‌robovan is simply a afloat autonomous electrical conveyance designed for freight. Zelostech's Z10 ‍model tin transport a load of astir 1.5 tonnes.

"Zelostech and Cainiao’s autonomous-driving portion person entered into a ​deep strategical integration, jointly gathering a RoboVan ‌Super Carrier successful the unmanned freight sector," an emailed connection from Zelostech said.

The institution said Cainiao volition "contribute its autonomous-driving business" to the woody and marque a currency concern successful the ⁠company.

The Journal reported that Cainiao's ​autonomous-driving portion volition beryllium ​folded into Zelostech, adding that Zelostech volition run some brands simultaneously.

Zelostech did not ‍respond to ⁠a further petition for comment. Alibaba did not instantly respond to a Reuters petition ⁠for comment.

(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar, Rajveer Singh Pardesi and Disha ‌Mishra successful Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank ‌Dhaniwala and Sahal Muhammed)