Under the active guidance of policies, coupled with increasingly mature relevant technologies and a wide range of application scenarios, it is time to vigorously develop low-altitude economies and open up trillion-level markets. As various localities implement low-altitude economic development goals, 2024 is expected to become a low-altitude economy. The first year of great development.

■ Xia Jinbiao

Recently, four departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the Innovative Application of General Aviation Equipment (2024-2030)"(hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan"). The "Implementation Plan" establishes two-step development goals for the low-altitude economy in 2027 and 2030, and is regarded by the industry as a top-level design to promote the development of the low-altitude economy.

The "Implementation Plan" proposes that by 2027, China's general aviation equipment supply capabilities and industrial innovation capabilities will be significantly improved, and a modern general aviation basic support system will be basically established. Aviation emergency rescue and logistics distribution have been applied on a large scale, urban air transportation has been operated commercially, forming more than 20 replicable and replicable typical application demonstrations, creating a number of low-altitude economic application demonstration bases, and forming a number of brand products.

By 2030, a new development model for the general aviation industry characterized by high-end, intelligence, and green will be basically established to support and ensure the "short-distance transportation + electric vertical take-off and landing" passenger transport network and the "dry-support-terminal" unmanned aircraft distribution network and low-altitude production operation network that meets the needs of industrial and agricultural operations operate safely and efficiently. General aviation equipment is fully integrated into all fields of people's production and life, becoming a powerful driving force for low-altitude economic growth and forming a trillion-level market scale.

Low-altitude economy is a newly emerging concept in recent years. It refers to a comprehensive economy that is dominated by civilian manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, driven by multi-scenario low-altitude flight activities such as people, cargo and other operations, and radiates and drives the integrated development of related fields. Sexual economic form. With policy support and related technological innovation, low-altitude economy is constantly expanding from the exploration and development stage to application scenarios. At present, from scenery tours to urban security, from medical rescue to emergency rescue, from agricultural and forestry plant protection to power inspections, low-altitude economy has a wide range of application scenarios.

In recent years, low-altitude economic support policies have been continuously improved. In 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline", and the low-altitude economy was included in the national plan for the first time. In October 2023, four ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Outline for the Development of Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry (2023-2035)", proposing to strive to put electric navigation aircraft into commercial application by 2025, and new energy aircraft will become the mainstream of development by 2035. Among them, special mention is made of the pilot operation of the electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). Starting from January 1, 2024, the "Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" will be officially implemented, marking that China's drone industry will enter a new stage of standardized development with "laws to follow".

At present, technologies related to China's low-altitude economic development are also constantly maturing. Taking drones as an example, according to the "Outlook for the Development Situation of China's Drone Industry in 2024" released by CCID Research Institute, according to incomplete statistics, there will be more than 16,000 people in the country in 2023. There are more than 12,000 companies in the midstream, accounting for more than 70%, including companies such as drone platforms, sensors, software and algorithms. Among them, Chinese civil drone manufacturers represented by DJI occupy a leading position in the global market.

Since the beginning of this year, China has also begun to explore commercial application scenarios of low-altitude economy. On February 27, the world's first eVTOL cross-sea and cross-city air route (Shenzhen-Zhuhai) successfully completed its first flight. Originally, a one-way 2.5-3-hour ground ride in the air took only 20 minutes. On March 18, the world's first Chinese-made self-developed "air taxi" Yihang EH216-S that received airworthiness certification was put on the Taobao Industrial Products Platform and sold, which means that "air taxis" will fly into ordinary people's homes. Time may not have to wait too long. According to estimates by research units, the market size of China's low-altitude economy is expected to reach 2 trillion yuan in 2030, and the low-altitude economy will become a new engine of economic growth.

The Central Economic Work Conference in December last year established low-altitude economy as a national strategic emerging industry, and low-altitude economy was also included in this year's "Government Work Report" for the first time. At present, various regions are using low-altitude economy as a new highland to accelerate the cultivation and development of new productive forces. According to incomplete statistics, this year, at least 18 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) including Beijing, Guangdong, Anhui, Sichuan, and Jiangsu have included low-altitude economies in their "Government Work Reports".

This "Implementation Plan" mainly proposes five key tasks, covering technology, industrial chain and supply chain, application areas, infrastructure, integrated ecology, etc. Through unified top-level planning and guidance, we will strengthen coordination between the central and local governments to ensure resource integration and formation. Work together to avoid "rushing into action". The promulgation of the "Implementation Plan" marks that China's low-altitude economic development has entered a new stage.

It is believed that under the active guidance of policies, coupled with increasingly mature relevant technologies and a wide range of application scenarios, it is time to vigorously develop low-altitude economies and open up trillion-level markets. As various localities implement low-altitude economic development goals, 2024 is expected to become low-altitude. The first year of great economic development.