JD.com Inc, China's second-largest e-commerce player, on Thursday announced partnerships with Chinese auto makers SAIC Maxus and Dongfeng Motor Corporation to conduct research on the country's first automatic vans.

The e-commerce giant has jointly developed two models of automatic light electric vans with SAIC Maxus and Dongfeng respectively, for the delivery of goods from JD's distribution centers to delivery stations, JD said in a statement.

SAIC Maxus' electric van can sense obstacles 150 meters away and plan its route leveraging its radar system, sensors and positioning system. To date the van has conducted successful tests of automatic route planning, overtaking, obstacle avoidance and self-parking functions, according to JD.