Liu Qiangdong, president of JD.com, addresses the Internet-driven Poverty-alleviation Forum at the 4th World Internet Conference underway in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province on Dec 3. [Photo by Xiang Wenjian/chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com are set to play a big role in the country's drive to alleviate and eliminate poverty in the coming years.

China is pressed for time to lift all people out of poverty by 2020, which is when the central government has pledged to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Poor rural logistics is a root problem that has led to poverty in areas in Shanxi and Gansu provinces, according to Liu Qiangdong, president of JD.com.

"A lot of high quality produce from rural areas have no price competitiveness when transported to cities like Beijing and Shanghai because of high logistics costs," Liu said while addressing the Internet-driven Poverty-alleviation Forum, at the 4th World Internet Conference underway in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province on Dec 3.

In a bid to solve the problem, JD.com has been actively building a logistics network to cover the whole country for the past 10 years.

By the year-end, logistics centers run by the company are expected to reach 500, to reach all 600,000 villages in China.

JD.com is also dedicated to exploring cutting-edge technology solutions such as automated warehouses and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to cut logistics costs and increase efficiency in rural areas.

Liu revealed that JD.com is building two large drone delivery systems in Shanxi and Sichuan provinces.

In Sichuan, a total of 185 drone airports will be established, enabling the transportation of goods from mountainous villages in the province to any part of the country within 24 hours, according to Liu.