altitude economy set to take off in 2025, fueled by policy support

Home>>

By Tao Mingyang, Fan Wei, Tu Lei (Global Times) 10:24, March 11, 2025

Tian Junxia, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) put forward her motion focusing on low-altitude equipment technology breakthroughs and standardization.

Tian, also a researcher with the Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), called for efforts to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies for low-altitude equipment, including autonomous flight capabilities in complex environments and intelligent swarm operations, as well as standardization of low-altitude equipment design, manufacturing and operation across the whole process, according to a statement sent from the AVIC to the Global Times on Monday.

Aside from calls for accelerating the establishment of a comprehensive low-altitude flight service system, Tian proposed to conduct low-altitude flight demonstrations based on the local conditions of China's various regions, and expand application scenarios of low-altitude flights in areas such as forestry patrol, emergency rescue, medical service, public transport and logistics.

Low-altitude equipment serves as a core component of the low-altitude economy, encompassing both traditional industries and cutting-edge technologies such as information communications, big data and artificial intelligence, said Tian, noting that it exemplifies new quality productive forces characterized by an extensive industrial chain, high technological sophistication and concentrated innovation-driven elements.

He Xiaopeng, a deputy to the 14th NPC and chairman and CEO of Chinese electric carmaker XPENG, proposed to establish a pilot licensing and certification management system for low-altitude vehicles, said the statement sent from XPENG to the Global Times on Monday.

In November 2024, the "Land Aircraft Carrier," the modular flying car developed by XPENG, completed its first public flight at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. He said on Saturday during a group interview ahead of the second plenary meeting of the third session of the 14th NPC that the "Land Aircraft Carrier" is expected to achieve mass production in 2026.

Low-altitude vehicles, including flying cars and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft -- a critical component of future multi-dimensional transportation systems -- are transitioning from conceptual designs to real-world applications, said He.

Given the fast development of the low-altitude economy, He called on relevant authorities to optimize existing regulations and procedures related to pilot management to lay the groundwork for the safe and efficient operation of low-altitude aircraft, including a new license grading system and pilot training system.

Ken Chu, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, also the chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based Mission Hills Group, proposed to set Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as pilot trial zones under the master plan for the low-altitude economy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Shenzhen is home to about 1,700 low-altitude economy-related enterprises, which form mature local industrial chains. Combined with Hong Kong's international financing services, the industrialization and globalization of the low-altitude economy will be further accelerated, said Chu in his proposal.

The low-altitude airspace's vertical height from the ground ranges from 1,000 meters to 3,000 meters. In 2024, the "low-altitude economy" was first included into the Government Work Report of the year, underscoring its pivotal role in the nation's economic development.

The development direction of the low-altitude economy in 2025 will shift from the "coordinated planning" phase to the "practical implementation" phase, as multiple NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members proposed to accelerate the standardization process of low-altitude infrastructure, vehicles and laws, Luo Jun, executive director of the China Low Altitude Economic Alliance, told the Global Times on Monday.