China develops new growth engine through low-altitude economy

Editor's note: High-quality development is the primary task for China in building a modern socialist country in all respects. Following the recent conclusion of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, CGTN is launching a series of special reports to illustrate how China is navigating its reform efforts to further unlock its economic potential and drive high-quality development.

In a park in Shenzhen City, south China's Guangdong Province, a drone takeout cabinet has become a check-in spot for citizens. With the use of accurate positioning technologies, customers may buy food and have it delivered by drones in as little as thirty minutes by scanning the QR code.

In February, a five-seat eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft completed its first intercity electric air-taxi demonstration flight from Shenzhen to a ferry port in the nearby city of Zhuhai. It only took the air-taxi 20 minutes to go from Shenzhen to Zhuhai, a journey requiring more than two hours by car.

Including both traditional aviation businesses and low-altitude production and service methods supported by drones, the low-altitude economy, which was written into the government work report for the first time this year, is emerging as a forerunner in the development of new quality productive forces across China.

During the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which concluded in July, China pledged to develop the general aviation and low-altitude economy, and improve the institutions and mechanisms for fostering new quality productive forces in line with local conditions.

Navigating low-altitude skies

China boasts a huge market and dense city clusters. The size of China's low-altitude economy in 2023 was estimated at more than 500 billion yuan ($70 billion), with its scale expected to rise to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

In recent years, driven by market demand and policy support, traditional navigation operations such as agriculture, forestry, plant protection, and power inspections involved in the low-altitude economy have maintained steady growth. 

In Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, the city's power supply company actively promotes the application of drones, and has now achieved full coverage of drone inspection operations in the city.

By integrating BeiDou's communication technology, artificial intelligence and intelligent image recognition, around 80 percent of drones can conduct autonomous inspections, allowing inspection personnel to learn about on-site conditions without needing to visit the site.

Meanwhile, air tours, aviation sports and medical rescues are also increasing.

For example, Jiangsu's Wuxi City is actively creating a low-altitude cultural tourism environment. The city has opened the province's first eVTOL low-altitude route, offering a different perspective for tourists who want to explore the city's scenery.

According to the CAAC, there were 689 general aviation firms in China at the end of 2023, with 3,173 general aviation aircraft registered and 451 general aviation airports established. In the first half of this year, there were nearly 608,000 newly registered drones, an increase of 48 percent from the end of last year.

New growth engine

Developing new quality productive forces is an important focus to promote high-quality development. According to the resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, China has proposed a series of arrangements in boosting institutional supply in new areas and establishing a mechanism for ensuring funding increases for future industries.

"Aurora" – a single-engine, two-seat tricycle landing gear aircraft independently developed by Chinese aircraft manufacturer Starair Aircraft Co., Ltd. – is China's first domestically produced light sport aircraft to obtain an airworthiness certification from CAAC.

As of the end of 2023, a total of 261 aircraft had been delivered, covering 28 provinces across the country. They were also exported to three countries.

"For the first 100 aircraft, it took us over 10 years from doing research and development to achieve sales," said He Qinghua, founder of Starair Aircraft, adding that, as for the third batch of 100 aircraft, it only took two years.

"This is the release of new quality productive forces," He said.

Just like the low-altitude economy, more strategic emerging industries and future industries provide huge space for the growth of new quality productive forces.

"It is imperative to create a new type of relations of production that is compatible with the development of new productive forces through deepening reform across the board," Zhang Li, president of China Electronics Information Industry Development Academy, told China Media Group.

Zhang said more efforts are needed to further optimize the industrial policy implementation mechanism and guide local governments to develop in line with their resource endowments and comparative advantages.