When most people think of Chinese e-commerce name JD.Com Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:JD), they liken it to its bigger rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA). And, both have been dubbed the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) of China, as the core business of both is selling goods to consumers via the internet; online shopping is still in its infancy there, though growing fast.

Thing is, an investment in JD stock is so much more than just an investment in an online marketplace. Much like its counterparts Amazon.com and Alibaba, JD has much more going on the scenes that directly and indirectly bears revenue.

One of the more interesting of those backstage developments? As it turns out, JD.com is not only serious about flying drone-based delivery of items purchased via its website, it’s almost mastered the art and made it viable.

JD.com Delivery Drones Take Flight

Just for the record, yes, I’m the same guy who in late 2013, when Jeff Bezos first announced Amazon was working on airborne delivery drones, said it would never, and shouldn’t, happen in the United States. I stand by my thesis too. While there’s no doubt it can be done, the aim of using flying multi-rotor aircraft to ferry parcels to and from congested urban areas was an accident waiting to happen. Should one fail in flight and fall out of the sky on someone or in the midst of traffic, it could be fatal.

The idea makes a little more sense with JD’s spin on the technology though.

Though JD.com’s drones were brought into the limelight late last month when it was announced NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) would be providing the chips needed to power JD’s drones’ artificial intelligence “vision,” long-term JD stock owners may recall the company unveiled the initiative back on Alibaba’s Singles Day of last year. By that time, a few thousand test flights were made, with some of them being actual customer deliveries.

JD.com’s drones are functional too. The latest version of JD’s drones can carry more than 60 pounds worth of weight at a speed of more than 60 miles per hour.

At first glance it looks more or less like what Amazon wanted to do, but there’s one stark difference. That is, while Amazon is predominantly building its drone fleet to service increasingly congested city environments, JD.com is looking at its drone system as a means of cost-effectively accessing rural areas of China. The cost of making these airborne deliveries is about 70% less than driving a truck to these outlying destinations.

That mindset certainly circumvents a lot of the inherent risks of carrying multi-pound packages above the pedestrians and vehicles of busy city streets. Should a JD done fail and fall out of the sky, it (most likely) would fall in farmland or lesser-developed areas.

There’s another, related disparity between JD.com and Amazon on the drone delivery front: The United States’ FAA isn’t keen on the idea for United States’ airspace, and Chinese air traffic regulators are more accepting of the idea.

As it stands right now, the FAA doesn’t allow drones to fly over anyone other than the sender and the buyer, and the drone must always remain within sight of the pilot. The rules effectively put the kibosh on drone deliveries in the U.S., though Amazon continues to develop its program in hopes that the rules will change. China’s rules are still strict, to be fair, but at least accommodating.

Bottom Line for JD Stock

Don’t read too much into the news. While JD is well ahead of Amazon and rivals in China in terms of technology and commercial viability, China’s rural skies are hardly bustling with swarms of multi-rotor aircraft zipping back and forth to and from JD’s warehouses. China is also still ultimately limiting what JD is allowed to try, paying particularly close attention to how well its artificial intelligence platform works. With Nvidia on board (literally and figuratively), JD.com should satisfy those concerns as well. Still, these are all just baby steps.

Make no mistake though. While it could take years for aerial drones to make a meaningful difference in the value of JD stock, the company is setting the pace for this futuristic idea. It’s definitely the one to watch, and the one others will want to mimic.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him on Twitter.