Visitors attend a drone expo in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 23, 2025. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Recently, several unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transportation routes have been opened for trial flights, accelerating the expansion of application scenarios, and continuously demonstrating UAV's advantages in intercity transport, mountainous area deliveries, and the transportation of fresh produce and medical supplies.
Industry experts believe that UAV transportation is currently at a critical stage before the technological boom and large-scale application.
-- Application scenarios accelerate expansion
On August 3, the 2-ton electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) CarryAll aircraft, independently developed by AutoFlight, departed from a designated launch facility in Shenzhen carrying fresh fruit, emergency medicines, and other supplies, completing a 58-minute trans-oceanic flight to the Huizhou 19-3 oil platform, located 150 kilometers offshore from the Shenzhen coastline.
It is reported that this trial flight was jointly carried out by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), CITIC Offshore Helicopter, and AutoFlight, marking a key step forward for China in applying sea-to-land low-altitude logistics scenarios.
Compared with traditional transportation methods that rely on ships and helicopters, eVTOLs have significant advantages in terms of operating costs, response speed, environmental friendliness, comfort, and adaptability to limited takeoff and landing spaces, said Xie Jia, senior vice president of AutoFlight.
On July 30, an EHang Intelligent VT20 series logistics unmanned eVTOL carrying seafood took off from Tangjiagang Port in Zhuhai, Guangdong. After approximately 55 minutes, it flew 82.9 kilometers across the three cities of Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Guangzhou, and landed precisely at Suigang Port in Guangzhou. This marks the opening of the first long-distance UAV logistics route in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Compared with traditional land transportation, this route can save about 60 percent of the time.
On April 14, the low-altitude logistics route across Qiongzhou Strait operated by Hainan Dapeng Air Technology Co., Ltd. successfully completed its maiden flight at Haikou Jiangdong New District. On April 1, the Guangzhou-Dongguan intercity low-altitude logistics route was launched. A UAV carrying cross-border e-commerce goods successfully took off from the Huangpu Comprehensive Bonded Zone of Guangzhou and landed in the Waterfront Hexi Digital Industrial Zone of Dongguan, marking the successful trial flight on China's first cross-border e-commerce low-altitude logistics intercity route.
Notably, regulatory authorities are successively introducing support measures and policies for the low-altitude economy.
In July 2025, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) established a steering group for general aviation and low-altitude economy to promote industry development with a "national unified approach." Next, CAAC will focus on areas such as development planning, aircraft airworthiness certification, market regulation, flight operation oversight, flight service support, construction of flight service dispatch platforms, and development of safety regulatory systems, to promote the safe and orderly development of general aviation and the low-altitude economy.
Kaiyuan Securities Co., Ltd. notes that China's low-altitude economy is advancing through a top-down approach, with the central government formulating macro-level industrial plans, local governments offering subsidies, and enterprises constructing infrastructure and main equipment by bidding as well as creating application scenarios.
-- Industry chain companies seize opportunities
In recent years, the low-altitude economy has become a new industrial track highly supported by China, with supporting policies introduced intensively from the central government to local governments, airspace management reform continuously deepened, and a multi-trillion-yuan market released in an accelerated pace. Industry chain companies are competing to seize the opportunity.
It is predicted that by 2030, the scale of China's low-altitude economy will reach 3 trillion yuan, with innovative applications in marine scenarios becoming an important growth driver, said Xie.
CITIC Offshore Helicopter is continuously expanding its layout in the low-altitude economy, including UAV operations, and is actively building a low-altitude UAV logistics network. According to its 2024 annual report, the sector is showing strong growth momentum, with market size projected to reach 1.5 trillion yuan by 2025 and surpass 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035. This rapid growth momentum reflects the increasing strategic role of the low-altitude economy in China's economic structure, making it a new engine for driving economic development.
In the low-altitude sector, Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co., Ltd. focuses on the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of fixed-wing aircraft, vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and UAVs, forming a multi-product, multi-scenario travel matrix. The UAVs developed based on eVTOL technology can carry cargo up to 200 kilograms over a 40-kilometer range. They will be deployed in areas inaccessible to traditional transportation methods and integrated with existing land or sea transport logistics infrastructure, thereby establishing entirely new supply chains and transport routes.
The "FlightGuard" project, in which Eastcompeace Technology Co., Ltd. (Eastcompeace) is involved, proposes systematic solutions to address the security management challenges in scenarios such as UAV logistics and cross-border collaboration. Eastcompeace stated that the company will continue deepening cooperation with global partners, explore the internationalization of low-altitude safety standards, and apply the "FlightGuard" technology to more regions to promote the development of the low-altitude economy and help build a low-altitude safety system.
Industry experts believe that UAV transportation is currently at a critical stage before a technological boom and large-scale application. Policy breakthroughs such as the opening of low-altitude airspace, technological iterations in battery and autonomous driving, and improvements in infrastructure such as take-off and landing networks and air traffic control systems will be key paths to breaking bottlenecks. Enterprises in the related industrial chain should establish a sustainable development model in terms of standardization, deep cultivation of application scenarios, and public communication.(Edited by Yang Yajun, Yang Yifan with Xinhua Silk Road, yangyifan@xinhua.org)
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