Wenzhou Feiyue Technology Co., Ltd.

On February 27, the world's first cross-sea and cross-city eVTOL route between Zhuhai and Shenzhen made its first flight.

Since China clearly proposed the development of low-altitude economy in 2021, a series of basic systems and policies around low-altitude economic development have been released one after another, marking that the supply-side reform of low-altitude this emerging land space element has entered the fast lane. The Central Economic Work Conference held on December 11-12, 2023 emphasized the creation of a number of strategic emerging industries, among which the low-altitude economy is listed. As a representative of new quality productivity, low-altitude economy is an important choice for cultivating and developing new kinetic energy, and it is also an important strategic emerging industry direction for global competition, which is expected to inject new vitality into the regional economy and provide new momentum for promoting regional economic and social development.

——Mei Yaomin, Li Hengpan, Liu Jinsong

Panorama and prospects for the development of low-altitude economic industry

A panoramic overview of the industrial chain. The upstream of the low-altitude economic industrial chain is the field of raw materials and core components, including raw materials such as metal raw materials, special rubber, polymer materials, etc., and parts including chips, batteries, motors, etc.; The midstream of the industrial chain includes five major industries, including product manufacturing, low-altitude flight, low-altitude support and comprehensive services, as well as flight approval and airspace filing that need to be involved in the downstream. The downstream of the industrial chain is a variety of application scenarios, including low-altitude tourism, low-altitude logistics, medical rescue, pilot license training, aerial photography, cultural tourism and inspection industry.

Analysis of industrial development prospects. 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", proposing to "develop the transportation platform economy, hub economy, channel economy, and low-altitude economy". The concept of low-altitude economy was written into the national plan for the first time, which is of symbolic significance. The "14th Five-Year Plan for the High-quality Development of Manufacturing Industry in Guangdong Province" clearly states that it is necessary to rely on Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai to break through key technologies such as drone special chips, flight control systems, power systems, and sensors, and expand and strengthen the drone industry. In 2023, the scale of China's civil drone industry will exceed 120 billion yuan, ranking first in the world. According to the forecast of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the market size of China's low-altitude economic industry will reach 3.7 trillion yuan by 2028, which is a blue ocean market with great development potential.

Zhuhai's advantages in developing a low-altitude economy

It has a certain industrial foundation. As one of the first batch of 26 national comprehensive demonstration zones for the general aviation industry determined by the National Development and Reform Commission, Zhuhai has initially formed the advantages of UAV and general aviation industry chain agglomeration after years of development with the support of mature key industrial clusters. In the field of UAV industry, Zhuhai has gathered more than 40 UAV system-related and supporting enterprises such as Longhua, Ziyan, Tianqing, Xuanji, Seagull, Shangfei and Shuangjie, involving UAV aircraft design and manufacturing, flight control and navigation systems, software development, operation services and other links. Zhuhai low-altitude aircraft with industrial-grade UAV as the core, products are mainly used in agricultural plant protection, power patrol, police law enforcement, emergency rescue and other industries, in the field of general aviation industry, Zhuhai Aviation Industrial Park has a mature general aviation industry chain, with China Aviation General Aviation and Motianyu as the leading Zhuhai general aviation machine development and aviation maintenance capabilities in the country. Zhuhai has developed into one of the areas with the most complete categories of general aviation industry and the largest concentration of operating enterprises in the central and southern regions, and is the first choice for the implementation of general aviation projects in the future. In terms of general aviation operation services, Zhuhai already has 6 airports available for general aviation and a number of temporary take-off and landing points for general aviation.

Have a complete air show platform. With the 2023 Asia General Aviation Exhibition held at the Zhuhai International Airshow Center, Zhuhai has formed a "dual airshow + global unmanned system conference" aerospace exhibition industry pattern. At present, Zhuhai has successfully hosted 14 sessions of the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition and 6 sessions of the Global Unmanned Systems Conference. The Global Unmanned Systems Conference has developed into one of the largest annual industry events in the field of unmanned systems, with the highest specifications and the most abundant international elements. The perfect air show platform has played an important role in accumulating resources for the development of low-altitude economy, innovating development models, and enriching industrial ecology.

It has significant location advantages. Zhuhai is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, and with the completion and opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Zhuhai has become the only city in Chinese mainland connected to Hong Kong and Macao by land, coupled with the preferential policies of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, which has greatly promoted the flow of various resource elements between Zhuhai and Hong Kong and Macao. In the blueprint of the metropolitan area on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, Zhuhai's strategic position is highlighted. At the same time, Zhuhai is not covered by dense high-rise buildings, has a vast sea area, and has a beautiful urban coastline (227.26 kilometers of coastline) and many islands (262 large and small islands), with a unique geographical environment and natural scenery. This provides a "time and place" for Zhuhai to develop a low-altitude economy

Accelerate the development of low-altitude economy and create new momentum for industrial development

To build a low-altitude economic and industrial ecology as a guide, seize the new momentum of industrial development. The first is to expand and strengthen the main body of the low-altitude economic market. Adhering to the principle of "stabilizing stock and seeking increment", we will focus on industrial-grade UAVs, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), flying cars and other subdivisions, and vigorously cultivate and develop low-altitude economic industrial clusters. With the help of the influence of important international platforms such as Airshow China, General Airshow Asia, and the Global Unmanned Systems Conference, we will focus on introducing and supporting key projects and leading enterprises in key links such as low-altitude airspace management system, low-altitude industrial chain core technology and complete aircraft development, and industrial operation services, so as to attract upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain to gather and develop in Zhuhai. At the same time, we will vigorously support local enterprises to expand and strengthen their scale, and build an industrial development ecology of the whole industrial chain and the whole value chain. Support the main enterprises of the chain to take the lead in the construction of unmanned equipment industrial parks, UAV industrial bases and UAV test flight bases. The second is to strengthen the construction of innovation platforms and public service platforms. Through the superposition of municipal and district industrial policies, we will accelerate the construction of low-altitude economic innovation platforms, and support enterprises to create major innovation platforms recognized by the state, provinces and municipalities. Establish a municipal-level low-altitude economic and industrial alliance, give full play to the role of the alliance in leading norms and industry self-discipline, assist in formulating industry standards, and standardize market rank. At the same time, we will actively explore the construction of a number of public service platforms to promote the collaborative innovation and industrialization of the low-altitude economy, and carry out technology research and development, technology evaluation, technology trading, inspection and testing, and quality certification. Professional services such as personnel training to improve the efficiency of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the speed of application and promotion. The third is to build a support system for professional talents. Strengthen the convergence of talent policies at the two levels in the urban area, and accelerate the development of low-altitude economic industries through the introduction of talents. Promote the establishment of a low-altitude economy expert committee, vigorously support low-altitude economic enterprises, colleges and universities to build a high-level low-altitude economic industry talent team, the introduction and training of low-altitude economic industry development urgently needed high-level applied research and development talents and professionals, especially the use of Zhuhai's advantages in the development of low-altitude economy, the introduction of experts and leaders in a certain discipline or technical field in the industrial chain at home and abroad. At the same time, relying on the brand influence of Airshow China, low-altitude industry conferences and academic forums will be held to gather a group of experts, scholars and industry leaders in the field of low-altitude economy, and do a good job in the construction of talent platforms.

To build a low-altitude economic and industrial ecology as a guide, seize the new momentum of industrial development. The first is to expand and strengthen the main body of the low-altitude economic market. Adhering to the principle of "stabilizing stock and seeking increment", we will focus on industrial-grade UAVs, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), flying cars and other subdivisions, and vigorously cultivate and develop low-altitude economic industrial clusters. With the help of the influence of important international platforms such as Airshow China, General Airshow Asia, and the Global Unmanned Systems Conference, we will focus on introducing and supporting key projects and leading enterprises in key links such as low-altitude airspace management system, low-altitude industrial chain core technology and complete aircraft development, and industrial operation services, so as to attract upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain to gather and develop in Zhuhai. At the same time, we will vigorously support local enterprises to expand and strengthen their scale, and build an industrial development ecology of the whole industrial chain and the whole value chain. Support the main enterprises of the chain to take the lead in the construction of unmanned equipment industrial parks, UAV industrial bases and UAV test flight bases. The second is to strengthen the construction of innovation platforms and public service platforms. Through the superposition of municipal and district industrial policies, we will accelerate the construction of low-altitude economic innovation platforms, and support enterprises to create major innovation platforms recognized by the state, provinces and municipalities. Establish a municipal-level low-altitude economic and industrial alliance, give full play to the role of the alliance in leading norms and industry self-discipline, assist in formulating industry standards, and standardize market rank. At the same time, we will actively explore the construction of a number of public service platforms to promote the collaborative innovation and industrialization of the low-altitude economy, and carry out technology research and development, technology evaluation, technology trading, inspection and testing, and quality certification. Professional services such as personnel training to improve the efficiency of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the speed of application and promotion. The third is to build a support system for professional talents. Strengthen the convergence of talent policies at the two levels in the urban area, and accelerate the development of low-altitude economic industries through the introduction of talents. Promote the establishment of a low-altitude economy expert committee, vigorously support low-altitude economic enterprises, colleges and universities to build a high-level low-altitude economic industry talent team, the introduction and training of low-altitude economic industry development urgently needed high-level applied research and development talents and professionals, especially the use of Zhuhai's advantages in the development of low-altitude economy, the introduction of experts and leaders in a certain discipline or technical field in the industrial chain at home and abroad. At the same time, relying on the brand influence of Airshow China, low-altitude industry conferences and academic forums will be held to gather a group of experts, scholars and industry leaders in the field of low-altitude economy, and do a good job in the construction of talent platforms.

In order to promote the healthy development of the low-altitude economy, we will consolidate the industrial development guarantee system. The first is to strengthen the top-level design of the low-altitude economy. Accelerate the introduction of high-quality development policies for the low-altitude economy in Zhuhai, make top-level design for the main goals, main tasks, and policy measures of the low-altitude economic development in stages, study and formulate policies and regulations to promote the development of the low-altitude economy, relevant industries, local standards and management rules, standardize market supervision behavior, and guide enterprises to participate in the development of the low-altitude economy in a standardized and orderly manner. Establish a special support fund for low-altitude economy, and formulate measures from the aspects of enterprise settlement, project introduction, aircraft airworthiness certification, low-altitude route infrastructure construction, platform construction, R&D subsidies, application demonstration, site leasing, technical research, equity investment and loans, etc., to provide low-altitude economic industry chain enterprises with full life cycle support. The second is to speed up the improvement of the low-altitude support service system. Strengthen the construction of helicopters, eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft), UAV flight take-off and landing points (including cross-border take-off and landing points) and take-off and landing platforms, and support the construction of UAV flight test verification centers, UAV maintenance bases, flight service stations, UAV countermeasure systems, unmanned systems 5G, communication and navigation and other infrastructure, and support the formulation of low-altitude flight routes. Actively build an intelligent integrated low-altitude system (SILAS), strengthen the information perception and digital twin functions of low-altitude airspace and aircraft, realize the integration of flight management needs, and improve the digital level of low-altitude operation. Support the creation of a refined intelligent dispatching and supervision platform covering flight plan application and approval, route design, allocation and correction, illegal aircraft identification, early warning and disposal.