Take an "air taxi" to work during the congested morning rush hour, eat fried chicken takeout delivered by a drone, take a "flying car" for a low-altitude sightseeing tour... Scenes in science fiction movies are gradually entering reality. Life is inseparable from a popular hot word at the moment-low-altitude economy.
Not long ago, the "Beijing City Action Plan to Promote the High-Quality Development of Low-altitude Economic Industries (2024-2027)(Draft for Comments)" was released, proposing to establish commuting routes between Daxing Airport and Xiongan New Area, Capital Airport and Tianjin, Langfang and other regions, and explore new application formats of "split flying vehicle intercity commuting + urban ferry". Not only Beijing, but more than 20 provinces including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Shandong have also intensively issued policy documents to promote low-altitude economies.
Nowadays, what is the hot "low-altitude economy"? Why are various places seizing the track? What impact will the development of low-altitude economy have on our production and life? How to grasp the "new blue ocean" under the sky to let the low-altitude economy fly high and achieve stability and long-term? Focusing on these issues, the reporter recently conducted interviews with industry experts.
When it comes to low-altitude economy, what do you associate with? Are familiar helicopters, drones, and hot air balloons? But the current hot words of "low-altitude economy" are not limited to this.
He Lei, member of the Expert Committee of the Comprehensive Transportation Society of Jiangsu Province and president of the East China Branch of the Sixth Design and Research Institute of the Machinery Industry, told reporters: "The low-altitude economy currently proposed is highly in line with the concept of new quality productivity. It is a comprehensive economic form below 3000 meters, driven by various low-altitude flying activities of various manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, radiating and driving the integrated development of related fields." The low-altitude economy seems to be "flying" in the air, but its foundation is "on the ground". It is a series of R & D, manufacturing, testing, application, service and other links and a deep integration of the industry. It has a long industrial chain, a wide range of radiation, growth and driving characteristics. Strong sex.
In February 2021, the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council proposed to develop the transportation platform economy, hub economy, channel economy, and low-altitude economy. This is the first time that the concept of "low-altitude economy" has been written into national planning.
In the following three years, the central government successively issued various relevant policies, laws and regulations surrounding the low-altitude economy, with the most intensive period from 2023 to 2024. Not only did the Central Economic Work Conference list low-altitude economy as one of the strategic emerging industries, but the 2024 government work report also proposed for the first time to actively create new growth engines such as low-altitude economy.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China actively implements relevant plans, revises relevant regulations, and promotes the construction of a low-altitude flight service guarantee system. Driven by multiple industry and national policies, local governments have responded one after another. According to incomplete statistics, more than 20 provinces and cities across the country have issued low-altitude economic action plans to compete for the "Sky City". The industrial chains of each province and city have their own priorities according to the different resources of each region, but they are generally concentrated in four aspects: low-altitude new infrastructure, low-altitude manufacturing, low-altitude flight activities and low-altitude operation support.
"The low-altitude economy is currently facing good development opportunities in China. On the one hand, it benefits from the in-depth advancement of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation; on the other hand, it also benefits from my country's long-term accumulation of processing, manufacturing and comprehensive integration advantages." He Lei said.
It is understood that low-altitude economic physical carriers include eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing Aircraft), drones, helicopters and traditional fixed-wing aircraft and related infrastructure. Yang Jincai, chairman of the World Drone Conference and president of the Shenzhen Drone Industry Association, introduced at the 9th 100-person drone conference this year that the current low-altitude economy includes 85% drones and 15% general aviation.
"Among new consumer general aviation, eVTOL is an important track currently focused by the industry and will have a lot of room for development in the future." He Lei added that compared with traditional navigable flight activities such as fixed-wing and helicopters, the currently promoted low-altitude economy has achieved technological revolutionary breakthroughs in intelligence, unmanned, and new energy; innovative configuration has also been achieved in terms of production factors such as airspace, 5G networks, and electricity; and a deep transformation and upgrading from the traditional navigable transportation industry to the low-altitude multi-scenario comprehensive application industry has been achieved.
Compared with railways, highways, water transportation and other transportation, low-altitude flying vehicles also have their unique advantages. "The advantages of low-altitude economy point-to-point, small geographical restrictions, low economic costs, and high operating efficiency will bring more new scenarios, new applications, new services and new business formats. By creating new consumer demands, it will help continue to promote consumption upgrades." He Lei said.
In addition, with global population growth and urbanization accelerating, problems such as existing traffic road congestion and air pollution have become increasingly serious. Under this trend, the development of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as eVTOL can also avoid pollution caused by traditional helicopter internal combustion engines, which is of great significance to reducing carbon emissions and achieving sustainable development goals.
The ocean is a resource, the land is a resource, and the sky is naturally a resource. Seeking GDP (gross domestic product) from the sky is the underlying logic of current low-altitude economic development. Yang Jincai believes that low altitude is a test field and economic field that has not yet been truly developed. The demand for development in the sky is determined by people's practical needs to move from two-dimensional to three-dimensional through cities.
According to the "China Low-altitude Economic Development Research Report (2024)" released by CCID Research Institute, the scale of my country's low-altitude economy will reach 505.95 billion yuan in 2023, with a growth rate of 33.8%. It is expected that by 2026, the scale of the low-altitude economy will exceed one trillion yuan.
"The low-altitude economy is different from the traditional consumer economy. The human life scene is facing a transformation into three-dimensional space. All order and interests in the sky must be built from scratch, and trillion-level development space is inevitable." He Lei told reporters that from the perspective of ultra-long industrial chains and ultra-wide radiation, promoting low-altitude economic development will bring huge economic benefits in the manufacturing industry, flight industry, security industry and service industry. However, standing in the new wind of low-altitude economy requires a closed loop in all upstream and downstream links of the entire industrial chain to truly release new impetus.
In recent years, with the multiple support and promotion of industry and economic policies, my country's low-altitude economic development has shown a good momentum, but its rapid development is inseparable from the support of the industrial foundation. At present, what is the current development status of my country's low-altitude economic industry?
"Among my country's low-altitude economy-related industries, the drone industry has significant advantages and occupies an important position in the world." He Lei told reporters that the scale of my country's civil drone industry will reach 117.43 billion yuan in 2023, ranking first in the world. Consumer-grade drones around the world are also basically monopolized by my country's DJI Innovation (drone brand), with a share exceeding 70%. As of the end of 2023, my country has registered 1.267 million civil drones in real names, flying 23.11 million hours a year. There are nearly 20,000 drone companies in the industry, ranking first in the world in market share.
Behind this achievement is inseparable from the help of scientific and technological innovation. The reporter inquired about public information. Relevant data showed that the number of invention patent applications disclosed in my country's low-altitude economic field has increased from 852 in 2014 to 14134 in 2023, an increase of nearly 16 times, and it has continued to maintain more than 10,000 invention patent applications in the past three years.
In the field of scene applications, integration coverage is accelerated. At Lusong Airport in Zhuzhou, Hunan, tourists experience low-altitude sightseeing flights; in Shenzhen, drones deliver takeout through a precise positioning system, and the average delivery time is shortened to 12 minutes; the world's first cross-sea and cross-city electric "air taxi" flies for the first time, from Shenzhen to Zhuhai It only takes 20 minutes; in Chengdu, Sichuan, and Guiyang, Guizhou, the first cross-provincial low-altitude logistics flight of drones was successful, unlocking a new application scenario of "low-altitude logistics + drone distribution"; In Bailing Village, Longji Town, Guangxi, villagers use drones to spray pesticides and fertilize fertilizers to ensure the harvest of agricultural products such as passion fruits...
"The low-altitude economic service field has covered 20 major industries in my country and nearly 300 subdivided application scenarios, and it is still expanding." He Lei said that low-altitude economy is widely distributed in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries and plays an important role in promoting economic development, strengthening social protection, and serving national defense undertakings.
Xiang Jinwu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said in an interview with the media that my country's low-altitude economy is currently in a period of change opportunities and strategic development. The sooner we carry out a forward-looking layout for low-altitude economic development, the more we can move forward in the blue ocean of low-altitude economy. Break the waves and take the lead.
The low-altitude economy continues to boil and contains huge opportunities. It has become a consensus in the industry. However, with the rapid development of this emerging industry, a series of problems and challenges have gradually emerged.
A survey by the Low-altitude Strategy Center of the Beijing AVIC Communications Research Institute found that my country's low-altitude economic industry has some problems in terms of the soundness of laws and regulations, the utilization of airspace resources, core technological innovation capabilities, and the cultivation of market demand. For example, while the drone industry is developing rapidly, due to the lack of clear legal and regulatory guidance,"black flying" incidents are common. Some drones fly without permission, which not only disrupts normal aviation order, but also poses a threat to aviation safety; In terms of airspace utilization, due to strict airspace management, the flight time and routes of general aircraft will also be greatly restricted, restricting the rapid development of the industry.
In terms of core technologies, my country's core technologies such as aeroengines and avionics systems still rely on imports and lack independent innovation capabilities, resulting in a high degree of dependence on foreign countries in my country's low-altitude economic industries in key technologies and core equipment, making it difficult to form competitive advantages.
"If the low-altitude economy wants to achieve rapid development, the market is the foundation, airspace is the key, policies are the guarantee, technology is the support, and security is the bottom line." He Lei said that my country's current low-altitude economic market generally shows a situation in which the manned aircraft market has grown steadily and the drone market is booming. Therefore, in addition to vigorously developing applications such as emergency rescue, low-altitude tours, and police security, we must also actively encourage the development of consumer aviation to stimulate market potential.
Regarding airspace elements, He Lei said that in order for low-altitude airspace to be used safely and efficiently, it is necessary to give full play to the role and role of civil aviation and the government in low-altitude airspace management, thereby reducing the pressure on air traffic control of the troops and improving the efficiency of airspace use.
At the policy level, He Lei suggested strengthening the construction of laws and regulations, improving relevant policies and systems, and providing guarantees for industrial development. "In addition to the central government's policies, local governments can also introduce some regional fiscal, financial, industrial and other supporting policies to strengthen market cultivation, government procurement of services, support leading enterprises, lead major projects, and optimize the business environment. Play more role."
At the technical level, He Lei said that it is also necessary to increase investment in innovation and enhance the core competitiveness of the industry. For example, the aircraft's own battery technology, low-altitude digital management technology, intelligent network connection technology, intelligent operation management technology, operation safety and other technologies must be strengthened.
The management level is the top priority. "The boundaries of urban airspace resources are blurred, and differences in geographical factors such as urban buildings and terrain will increase the complexity of low-altitude transportation planning and management." He Lei told reporters that in particular, the development of "air taxis"(eVTOL) expected by the public requires the establishment of efficient, safe and unified urban air traffic planning and management system rules, including rule-making, airspace planning, allocation mechanisms, heaven and earth coupling, collaborative operation and management, etc.
In addition, we should also promote the deep integration of low-altitude industries with other industries, actively cultivate market demand, strengthen market publicity and promotion, and increase public awareness and acceptance of low-altitude economic industries.
"The development of low-altitude economy must be gradual, systematic planning, and comprehensive implementation. It must be carried out in accordance with the path of 'making plans, delimiting airspace, setting rules, building facilities, and introducing industry', so as to achieve planning first, scenario traction, mechanism guarantee, basic support and prospect cultivation. Only by building the foundation of a low-altitude flight environment and focusing on the cultivation of industries that suit your own can the low-altitude economy develop steadily and long-term." He Lei added.
At present, the low-altitude economy is like a magnificent bridge, connecting two-dimensional transportation and three-dimensional aviation networks, integrating physical space and the digital world, and opening up the industrial era and the digital future. Not only are we fortunate enough to witness this grandeur, but we can also sit on this bridge that penetrates time and space with great comfort, feel the pulse of the times, and touch the infinite possibilities of the future. Are you ready?