ZTO EXPRESS-W (02057) surged over 3%. As of press time, the stock was up 3.33% to HK$161.4, with a trading volume of HK$462 million.

On the news front, on August 15th, at the sorting facility of ZTO Express's Shenzhen Shuanglong service point, blue and white express delivery unmanned vehicles completed barcode scanning and loading, slowly departing along preset routes to begin their daily delivery tasks. The first batch of intelligent last-mile delivery equipment deployed by ZTO Express in Shenzhen's Longgang District marks the official entry of ZTO Express's Shuanglong service point into a new phase of "human-machine collaborative" delivery.

According to Huang Huabai, business manager at ZTO Express's Shenzhen Shuanglong service point, the unmanned vehicles used this time are equipped with multi-sensor devices including LiDAR and high-definition cameras, featuring capabilities such as autonomous obstacle avoidance, traffic light recognition, and automatic parking. They can adapt to various scenarios including residential communities and industrial parks.

Huayuan Securities previously noted that unmanned vehicles' cost reduction potential may enhance franchise operators' profitability. According to calculations, replacing the service point-to-station transportation scenario with unmanned vehicles achieves cost reduction of 0.11 yuan per package, which may improve supply chain profits and indirectly impact express delivery companies' headquarters financial statements. This round of unmanned vehicle industry trends can be compared to the previous round of sorting center automation upgrade trends. The emergence of new technologies and a new round of capital expenditure competition may break existing operational models and balance. Considering differences in cash flows among express delivery company headquarters and franchise operator profitability differences, companies with scale and profit advantages may accelerate transformation, forming new cost advantages and thereby accelerating changes in industry landscape.