People's Daily In-Depth Observation: The Low-Altitude Economy Soars High

Low-Altitude Economy Takes Flight (In-Depth Analysis)

Global Times Reporter Fan Wei, People’s Daily (March 18, 2026, Page 15)

Data sources: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, etc.

On the eve of this year’s National Two Sessions, a “science fiction turned reality” electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) successfully made its first flight in Chongqing. It may seem like just giving an electric vehicle “wings,” but it can carry two passengers flying below 3,000 meters at 150 km/h. After detaching from the “wings,” the electric vehicle can continue to travel over 300 kilometers.

“In regions like Chongqing, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and where the Yangtze River and gorges intertwine, eVTOL has unique application advantages,” said Liu Zhuanghua, chief commander of the eVTOL model at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Ninth Academy. “In the future, people may not need to drive along mountains and waters; they can fly into the clouds and ride the wind.”

Currently, China’s low-altitude economy industry is developing well and has become an important growth pole for cultivating new productive forces. As airspace management becomes more refined, core equipment innovation continues to emerge, and infrastructure networks gradually form, the low-altitude economy is expected to move from “pilot flights” to “scenario verification” in 2026.

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“Low Altitude+” Sparks New Business Models and Scenarios

“Tethered drones provide emergency lighting for disaster relief, transport drones help farmers carry harvests, and swarming drones depict dynamic scenes over cities…” In recent years, China’s diverse uses of drones have frequently become hot topics on domestic and international social media. Low-altitude technology is deeply integrating with traditional industries through the “Low Altitude+” model, spawning many new business models and scenarios, demonstrating strong innovation vitality and market potential.

In major agricultural provinces like Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan, large-scale drone applications for crop protection play an important role in integrated pest and disease control; in Yunnan, Tibet, and other provinces, drones have been used for power grid maintenance in high-altitude, cold mountain areas, becoming the main force for line inspections; during this year’s Spring Festival holiday, Chongqing staged seven drone light shows in succession, with drone performances becoming a powerful aid to boost consumption… In recent years, various regions have actively explored low-altitude economic application scenarios based on effective demand and local development realities.

Among these, agricultural forestry operations and inspections are the most mature scenarios. By 2025, China’s agricultural drone fleet will exceed 300,000 units, serving 460 million mu of farmland. Li Chao, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that drones are widely used in plant protection, fertilization, lifting, and other scenarios, effectively helping improve the quality and efficiency of agricultural production. Drone inspections of power lines have surpassed 4 million kilometers, supporting the safe operation of power grids.

Farmers and power workers who first embraced low-altitude technology benefit from drones’ unique advantages in production efficiency and safety. “Compared to manual operations, plant protection drones greatly shorten operation time and improve productivity,” said Cheng Zhongyi, senior technical solutions engineer at DJI Agriculture. Taking lychee spraying as an example: in hilly areas with irregularly distributed fruit trees, drones can precisely locate each tree, and combined with multispectral drone field surveys generating “prescription maps,” they enable targeted spraying where diseases are most prevalent.

“Spraying 150 acres of orchard manually would take three people three days, but with a drone, just one drone can complete it in one day, which is crucial for farmers responding to sudden pest and disease outbreaks,” Cheng Zhongyi explained. He believes that in the future, farmers may no longer be “working with dirt on their faces and sweat on their bodies,” but will rely on this “new farming tool” to make planting simpler and more efficient.

In the field of power inspection, drones are driving the industry from “manpower-intensive” to “multi-dimensional inspection.” Experts say that drones use laser radar technology to automatically generate 3D models with accuracy far exceeding visual inspection, and can safely approach high-voltage energized environments to detect hotspots that are difficult to see with the naked eye. Even at night, drones can conduct inspections, making them the best tool for long-distance pipeline monitoring. After adopting drones, a traditional inspection team can complete a week’s worth of inspections in just one day.

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Multiple Technological Paths Meet Industry Development Needs

Recently, news came from the Beibu Gulf area about transforming traditional marine energy development: China’s offshore oil fields have achieved large-scale drone operations for the first time. With the official implementation of the drone system operation project for offshore oil fields in Beibu Gulf, 41 offshore platforms and two land terminal factories are being fully promoted for low-altitude industrial applications, forming a multi-scenario drone operation system.

This is backed by mature applications of various drone products, including the TD550 heavy-lift unmanned helicopter. “Maritime logistics has long faced many pain points, especially in seasons with poor sea conditions, where traditional transportation methods have obvious bottlenecks. The TD550 can withstand wind speeds of up to level 8 and transport over 200 kilograms of supplies in a single flight,” said Tian Gangyin, chief designer of TD550. “Drones can effectively replace some traditional ships and helicopters, improving operational efficiency by over 30%, saving nearly 15 million yuan annually on ship leasing and fuel costs, and reducing carbon emissions by 25,000 tons.”

At the 7th China Tianjin International Helicopter Expo and Changchun Aviation Exhibition in 2025, “low-altitude economy” was showcased as an independent segment, with a large number of new technologies, products, and achievements in general aviation and low-altitude economy fields, focusing on smart agriculture, low-altitude logistics, emergency rescue, and transportation scenarios.

The diversification of low-altitude aircraft makes application scenarios richer. Currently, China has formed a pattern of parallel development of fixed-wing and rotary-wing, unmanned and manned aircraft, traditional and new energy power sources, to meet different application needs. This diversification not only demonstrates China’s innovative capacity in the low-altitude economy but also provides a solid foundation for sustainable industry development.

“Rapid industrialization of the low-altitude economy depends on the variety and stability of China’s low-altitude aircraft,” Liu Zhuanghua said. “In agricultural production, multi-rotor drones capable of vertical takeoff, hover, and precise operations in complex terrains are essential; in logistics, suitable low-altitude aircraft are available for all stages from ‘docks’ to ‘end points’; for future multi-dimensional transportation, eVTOLs, centered on safety and comfort, are undoubtedly the main players.”

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, over 70 domestically produced traditional civil aircraft have completed airworthiness certification, 18 civil drones have received airworthiness approval, nearly 30 research-grade ton-class drones, and nearly 70 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are under development. As of December 30, 2025, 1,081 companies have registered, with 3,623 products filed, totaling over 5.29 million units.

Local regions are actively exploring. Chongqing, by collaborating with upstream and downstream enterprises and universities, has become a “secret” for rapid development of the low-altitude economy in Southwest China. “Currently, 30 industrial innovation complexes in the city gather resources and data from over 850 units for ‘four sides’ and ‘four chains’ innovation projects,” said Wang Zhijie, Party Secretary and Director of the Chongqing Municipal Economic and Information Technology Commission. “This model has led to continuous breakthroughs in drone R&D, including the development of amphibious micro-industrial drones and the world’s first hybrid-powered drone.”

“China’s low-altitude industry chain is complete, with mature supporting systems for drones, and a leading global market share,” said Zhou Yuzhe, deputy director of the Aerospace Information Research Office at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. “Technologies such as new energy, intelligent manufacturing, and artificial intelligence are strong supports for the development of the low-altitude economy, helping China’s market size to rapidly break through.”

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From Industrial Production to Mass Consumption

China’s low-altitude economy still faces many challenges. How to shift low-altitude applications from industrial production to mass consumer use, allowing more people to access low-altitude flying devices, is a critical test for industry maturity. During this year’s National Two Sessions, some delegates and members focused on this issue and shared their thoughts.

“Low-altitude economy should promote application scenarios from a ‘whole society operation’ perspective. Currently, many low-altitude demonstration zones have emerged, but most focus on logistics and inspections alone. There is still a gap to achieving full-element integration and operation,” said Wu Ximing, chief technical expert at China Aviation Industry Corporation. “The low-altitude economy should deeply integrate with urban transportation, emergency rescue, social governance, and other aspects, truly becoming part of all facets of society.”

Low adoption rates of application scenarios are also a concern for Zhou Shuguang, chairman of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. His company, in partnership with some hospitals, has established an “airborne lifeline” medical alliance in Xi’an. However, he believes that current low-altitude application scenarios still face the dilemmas of “unaffordable, unused, and unsustainable,” with many projects remaining at demonstration or temporary stages lacking high-frequency, essential demand support.

During this year’s Two Sessions, many delegates proposed to expand low-altitude economic application scenarios in an orderly manner, making low-altitude airspace truly “useful, available, and common.”

Related policies are being rolled out. In November 2025, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating Scenario Cultivation and Opening to Promote Large-Scale Application of New Scenarios,” which clearly states to promote the application and standardization of integrated unmanned systems across sea, land, and air, encouraging the development of scenarios covering tourism, government affairs, logistics, satellite services, and more, expanding applications in industrial production, urban planning, comprehensive transportation, public services, safety, and agriculture. It emphasizes steady and orderly expansion of low-altitude economy scenarios.

“Listing the low-altitude economy as a new pillar industry is a strategic upgrade at the national level,” Zhou Yuzhe said. “This will accelerate the gathering of policies, funds, and talent, promote the orderly opening of application scenarios, and further drive the industry from pilot exploration to large-scale, standardized development.”