On 30 Sept. 2024, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and other departments released the “Beijing Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy (2024-2027)” (北京市促进低空经济产业高质量发展行动方案(2024-2027), hereinafter the “Plan”). According to the Plan, Beijing will strive to increase the scale of the low-altitude economy industry to CNY 100 billion within three years.
Beijing plans to expand the application of aerial emergency rescue and promote regular low-altitude logistics delivery in suitable districts such as Yanqing and Pinggu, while exploring the establishment of low-altitude passenger routes between Daxing Airport and Xiong’an New Area.
A month earlier, the Shanghai municipal government also released its action plan for the development of the low-altitude economy industry (2024-2027), which aims to create a “Sky City” and increase the scale of the core industry to over CNY 50 billion.
The term “low-altitude economy” refers to economic activities based on low-altitude airspace, typically from 1,000 meters (extendable to 3,000 meters), primarily led by the general aviation industry. It covers a wide range of sectors, including low-altitude flight, aviation tourism, regional passenger transport, general aviation services, and research and education, as well as various types of aircraft such as drones, helicopters, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL, or “flying cars”), and hot air balloons, and their wide application in various fields.
In March 2024, the low-altitude economy was included for the first time in the Chinese government’s work report, defining it as a “new growth engine”. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the market size of the low-altitude economy is expected to reach CNY 1.5 trillion by 2025 and CNY 3.5 trillion by 2035.
Photo by Jéan Béller on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
