In the previous article, I presented facts concerning the definition and development of sixth-generation (6G) telecommunication technologies in China. China is increasingly less dependent on the import of high-tech components from the USA and is progressively advancing in the development of its own high-tech potentials and products. Undoubtedly, this trend will continue, and currently, China is at least on par with the USA in conquering 6G technologies, which would bring significant advantages to the winner, including in the field of military security.
PASSENGER TRANSPORT VIA HYBRID AIRCRAFT
After catching up with and in many areas surpassing the developed Western countries—particularly in infrastructure and machinery development, especially high-speed rail, construction, computers and IT equipment, agricultural systems, fifth-generation telecommunication devices and mobile phones, space flights and satellite launches, and lastly in automobile production, especially vehicles powered by so-called new energies—China has taken pioneering steps into an entirely new area where there are no competitors across the West, including in the USA. This area is the low-altitude economy or low aviation economy. It involves the development of passenger and cargo transport using aircraft such as drones or hybrid aircraft that possess characteristics of both planes and drones, capable of transporting people, goods, or materials faster and at significantly lower costs than conventional road vehicles.
A DRIVER OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Chinese media state that over fifty thousand companies in China are involved in the development of this sector. The market value of China’s low-altitude economy is expected to reach 1.5 trillion yuan ($207.2 billion) this year. Estimates suggest that by 2035, this new economic sector will reach 3.5 trillion yuan, according to projections from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The author of these lines personally confirmed that the low aviation economy is not merely a dream or propaganda myth during a visit to Guangzhou about a year and a half ago, where he saw one of the flying car models, which was met with provincial ridicule and obligatory political mockery by much of the Serbian public.
Firstly, it is important to note that the low-altitude economy has been included in the Chinese government’s work report for two consecutive years. This indicates that the central authorities in Beijing attach great importance to this sector, recognizing and defining it as a new driver of national economic development.
The government work report for this year, presented on March 5 at the session of the National People’s Congress, once again emphasized, according to Chinese media, that China will encourage companies involved in this completely new economic area to implement extensive applications of new technologies, products, and development scenarios.
URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
The first question raised was the infrastructure capable of meeting first the legal and then the operational needs of the low-altitude economy. We cannot, simply put, expect a flying car or drone to hover above an intersection, waiting for the green light below. “China Daily” relayed a statement from Fu Changjun, one of the directors of Volant Aerotech based in Shanghai, a company focused on vertical take-off and landing aircraft, who noted that many Chinese cities are already working on developing and building infrastructure to support the growth of the low-altitude economy. “These cities are planning and designing take-off and landing points for aircraft, as well as preparing for the mass commercial use of these products,” said Fu.
A CRUCIAL PART OF DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM
At the end of last year, China’s National Development and Reform Commission established a department for the low-altitude economy. According to Chinese media, this department’s responsibilities include formulating and organizing the implementation of growth strategies for this new economic sector, drafting medium- and long-term development plans, proposing relevant policy recommendations, and coordinating key issues.
It is quite certain that a strategy is being developed in the form of documentation and legal acts to formally create the legal framework for the low-altitude economy. Already in 2024, many local authorities in China have taken the first concrete steps to support the growth of this sector. Around thirty Chinese regions have joined in developing the low aviation economy.
“AIRBUS HELICOPTERS” ARRIVES IN GUANGDONG
Leading the development of the low-altitude economy are Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in Guangdong Province. Over thirty percent of Chinese companies engaged in this sector are based in this province. European and particularly Serbian media missed the news at the end of last year that “Airbus,” specifically its helicopter division “Airbus Helicopters,” joined the business community in Guangdong, clearly taking into account Chinese projects for the development of the low-altitude economy.
Colin James, CEO of “Airbus Helicopters” in China, stated on this occasion that the continuous introduction of favorable new policies related to the development of the low-altitude economy in the Greater Bay Area (Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau) indicates not only the enormous size of the Chinese market but also its growing potential in this field.
AUTOMATED AIRPORTS IN DONGSHAN
Similar projects have been launched across China. In Dongshan, Fujian Province, 36 fully automated airports for unmanned aerial vehicles have been built. These drones already monitor the environment, precisely identifying forest fires, dense sea fogs, and similar meteorological situations.
In Shaoguan, the local government invested more than 60 billion yuan in building a so-called smart hub. Over twenty companies there operate with the most modern optical network in the Greater Bay Area, which, according to China Media Group, means that the low-altitude economy and “smart” computing power are becoming the foundation of new industrial chains in China.
BEIJING IS NOT LAGGING BEHIND
Beijing is enhancing its own local program for low-flying aircraft, i.e., the low-altitude economy. According to China Media Group reports, the program includes emergency rescue missions and rapid deliveries.
According to Beijing’s latest action plan for the development of the low-altitude economy, by 2027, the city will have about 5,000 enterprises engaged in this sector. Investments in the sector in Beijing will amount to around 100 billion yuan (about $14.2 billion).
Drone and other low-altitude aircraft deliveries will be applied in suburban districts of Yanqing, Pinggu, Miyun, and Fangshan.
The city also plans to establish a low-flying passenger route connecting the new Daxing International Airport with the also new Xiong’an district in Hebei Province, northern China, while exploring possibilities for establishing intercity air traffic with surrounding cities.
In August of last year, Beijing launched its first drone logistics route along a section of the nearby Great Wall of China, enabling tourists to receive summer necessities and emergency supplies within just a few minutes.
Shanghai also plans to establish a low-flying communication network with permanent regional coverage by the end of 2026 to support the development of its own low-altitude economy.
FLYING CARS AND ELON MUSK
Given the skepticism and ridicule that greeted the idea of flying cars in Serbia, it is worth noting that China plans to enter the so-called small-scale commercial promotion phase of such vehicles as early as 2028. By 2035, the Chinese expect flying cars to become more widely available.
Global competition to Chinese projects—which, it should not be forgotten, are coordinated at the state level—in the low-altitude economy sector comes from American billionaire Elon Musk. Flying cars from his company underwent trial flights in February.
“At a price of $300,000 each, around 3,300 orders were placed for (Musk’s) flying car,” reports “China Daily,” adding that “Alef Aeronautics” plans to begin production in the fourth quarter of this year.
The low-altitude economy will, as things currently stand, become the new battleground between two economic and political models: the American model based on private capital, and the Chinese model relying on state-driven synergy, innovation encouraged by the state, and of course, private capital—which, in the Chinese case, cannot act solely on its own dime.
