On November 18th, Sun Weiguo, Director of the General Aviation Business Department and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Working Committee of the China Air Transport Association, revealed at the 2024 International Electric Aviation (Kunshan) Forum that the Central Air Management Commission will soon launch eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft) pilots in six cities. These six pilot cities are Hefei, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Chongqing. The pilot document has relevant support policies for air routes and regions, especially for authorizing local government management of airspace below 600 meters. This not only leaves a considerable space for local exploration and development of low altitude economy, but also means that relevant local governments have to bear more responsibilities for airspace management.
As a highly anticipated emerging economic form, low altitude economy is one of the typical representatives of developing new quality productivity. The development of low altitude economy is a major strategic deployment made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and it is also a Xintiandi for high-quality economic development in China. With the continuous improvement of the policy system for developing low altitude economy, the continuous enhancement of basic conditions, and the continuous exploration and experimentation of application scenarios, the development of China's low altitude economy will take off comprehensively, adding new momentum to the sustainable development of the national economy.
According to relevant regulations, low altitude airspace refers to airspace with a vertical altitude not exceeding 3000 meters. Currently, China mainly uses airspace below 1000 meters, and drone flight activities are mostly concentrated at altitudes below 600 meters. The airspace used varies significantly depending on different application scenarios. For example, air sightseeing and transportation services (including helicopters, eVTOLs, etc.) mainly operate at altitudes above 300 meters; Short distance logistics transportation usually ranges from 120 meters to 300 meters; Delivery of takeout and city inspections are generally carried out at heights below 120 meters. This time, the reason why the country chose six cities for partial low altitude economic business pilot is closely related to its development advantages in economic development, technological innovation, infrastructure construction, aviation industry, and unmanned aerial vehicle technology.
In fact, the development of low altitude economy in China is currently in a state of comprehensive deployment and gradual exploration. At the national strategic level, in February 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Outline of the National Comprehensive Three dimensional Transportation Network Plan", which for the first time included low altitude economy in the national plan, marking the development of low altitude economy entering the national vision. In December 2023, the Central Economic Work Conference listed low altitude economy as a strategic emerging industry, which attracted widespread attention from the whole society. This year's government work report proposes to actively create new growth engines such as biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low altitude economy, making low altitude economy one of the hottest topics during the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In the decision of the Third Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was explicitly proposed to "develop general aviation and low altitude economy". The strategic deployment of these countries provides directional guidance for the development of China's low altitude economy.
In terms of boldly exploring and experimenting with the development of low altitude economy in the local area, in December 2023, Shenzhen issued the "Regulations on the Promotion of Low altitude Economy Industry in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone", encouraging and supporting organizations and individuals such as enterprises, universities, research institutions, industry associations, industry alliances, and new think tanks to participate in the development of low altitude economy industry activities. A number of low altitude air routes have been set up and a large-scale development of low altitude economy has begun, playing a very good demonstration and driving role in the national development of low altitude economy. In July of this year, Hangzhou formulated and issued the "Implementation Plan for High quality Development of Low altitude Economy in Hangzhou (2024-2027)", proposing to build Hangzhou into a leading city in the national low altitude economy. By 2027, more than 10 leading or key link enterprises will be born, more than 600 enterprises related to the industrial chain will be introduced, and the industrial scale will exceed 60 billion yuan. By 2027, more than 275 low altitude aircraft takeoff and landing sites (points) will be built, over 500 low altitude air routes will be opened, a unified management service platform will be established, and the "three networks" will be basically fully covered. In August of this year, the General Office of the People's Government of Henan Province formulated and issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting High quality Development of Low altitude Economy in the Province (2024-2027)", which comprehensively deployed the promotion of high-quality development of low altitude economy in the province. It proposed to complete the layout of low altitude infrastructure, establish a low altitude airspace management mechanism, and build about 10 general airports and a number of helicopter and drone take-off and landing sites and points by 2025. The scale of low altitude economy will reach 30 billion yuan, with about 50 enterprises above designated size, and efforts will be made to have more than 20 provincial-level scientific and technological innovation and public service platforms. In September of this year, Beijing formulated and released the "Action Plan for Promoting High Quality Development of Low altitude Economy Industry in Beijing (2024-2027)", which clarifies that by 2027, Beijing will cultivate a number of leading enterprises and specialized new enterprises in the fields of low altitude equipment manufacturing such as drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, general aircraft, low altitude intelligent networking, vertical takeoff and landing fields, low altitude safety, etc., and form a number of low altitude products and services with international competitiveness and brand influence. In October of this year, Chongqing formulated and released the "Action Plan for Promoting Low altitude Airspace Management Reform and High quality Development of Low altitude Economy in Chongqing (2024-2027)", and Suzhou formulated and issued the "Suzhou Low altitude Flight Service Management Measures (Trial)". In November of this year, Hainan Province formulated and released the "Hainan Province Low altitude Economic Development Three Year Action Plan (2024-2026)". wait. The enthusiasm for exploring and developing low altitude economy is relatively high across the country, and the development focus varies depending on the existing conditions in each region.
According to the "Research Report on the Development of China's Low altitude Economy" by CCID Consulting, the scale of the national low altitude economy in 2021, 2022, and 2023 will be 291.18 billion yuan, 378.07 billion yuan, and 505.95 billion yuan, respectively. It is predicted that the market size of the low altitude economy will exceed one trillion yuan by 2026. So, the space for developing a low altitude economy in the future is very broad.
With the continuous opening of low altitude airspace by the country, the practical fields of developing low altitude economy across the country will continue to expand. A group of enterprises that are rapidly developing in the low altitude economy field will grow and expand rapidly. More and more low altitude economy application scenarios will also bring increasingly rich and convenient services to the work and life of urban and rural residents. The historical trend of comprehensive development of low altitude economy nationwide and continuous creation of development highlights is now clear!
Try hard! This is the trend industry supported by the times. Actively integrating into this industry, you and the enterprise you lead may soar!
