In the frozen mountains, the heavy-duty drone aerial "Edgeworth" easily knocks down the ice on the high-altitude high-pressure line; On thousands of acres of cotton fields, agricultural drones "walk" in the air, methodically collecting real-time information of soil and crops to help farmers "accurately operate"; At the scene of the fire, the firefighting drone sprayed a high-pressure water column in the air, successfully "** a fire on more than a dozen floors; At the filming site, film and television drones swooped down from the sky and recorded one wonderful picture after another with high-definition cameras ......With the popularization of UAVs in all walks of life, the low-altitude economy is entering the public eye, continuously empowering application scenarios such as transportation and logistics, and cultural and tourism integration.
The picture shows that on January 19, the first batch of Lingyan AG100, a new generation of primary training aircraft independently developed by China, was delivered off the assembly line in Moganshan High-tech Zone, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. (*From People's ** Overseas Edition).
According to the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform of China's Low-altitude Airspace Management" issued by the Military Commission, "low-altitude" refers to the airspace that is less than 1,000 meters from the ground plane directly below and can be extended to 4,000 meters according to the characteristics and actual needs of different regions.
"Low-altitude economy" is based on low-altitude airspace, dominated by the general aviation industry, involving low-altitude flight, air tourism, regional passenger transport, general aviation services, scientific research and education and many other industries of the economic concept, is a radiation driving effect is strong, the industrial chain is long comprehensive economic form.
Develop transportation platform economy, hub economy, channel economy, and low-altitude economy", in February 2021, the low-altitude economy was written into the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline". In December 2023, the ** Economic Work Conference proposed to "build a number of strategic emerging industries such as biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low-altitude economy".
From agricultural plant protection to power inspection, from logistics and distribution to tourism, from environmental monitoring to emergency rescue, the low-altitude economy empowers thousands of industries and continuously gives birth to new business formats. To stimulate market forces, provide policy guarantees, strengthen technical support, and promote high-quality industrial development, China is starting from the "new" to fully stimulate the potential of the low-altitude economy and make the low-altitude economy fly better and farther.
The picture shows citizens visiting the low-altitude economic innovation achievement exhibition at the Livable International Expo Center in Wuhu City, Anhui Province, on September 16, 2023. (*From People's ** Overseas Edition).
Build the "road" to a low altitude.
If you want to get rich, build roads first", this simple sentence is never outdated.
To develop a low-altitude economy, in layman's terms, is to build a "road" to a low-altitude economy. On this new "road", there will also be "cars on the road", "people who drive", and industries that are rich because of the "road". The prosperity that once arose because of the roads crisscrossing the ground will also be a vast opportunity for the low-altitude economy in the future.
What does the future of work look like?
Going out to "fly" used to seem to be a scene in a science fiction movie. Just this year, Shenzhen's "air taxi" map continues to be new, and the commuter route from Pingshan Yanzihu Convention and Exhibition Center to Futian CBD (** business district) has shortened the travel time between the two places from 60 minutes on the ground to 13 minutes; In Anhui, the world's first commercially landed unmanned aerial vehicle officially realized normalized flight in Luogang Park in Hefei. Saying goodbye to the congestion of commuting to work by air is getting closer and closer to us.
On January 10, 2024, passengers boarded the plane at the Greater China *** venue at Futian CBD (** business district) in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. (*From People's ** Overseas Edition).
What will the future of express delivery look like?
The takeaway brother has become a takeaway pilot, and he no longer needs to be busy in the wind and rain; Drone delivery to the doorstep, even remote areas can also enter the village; The distribution efficiency has changed from "days" to "hours", and fresh products are delivered to customers as quickly as possible. For logistics, which is the most speed-hungry industry, low altitude will be the best solution.
What will the future of public services look like?
In densely forested areas, rapid dispatch, aerial fire extinguishing, and monitoring of forest fires; On the roof of the hospital, patients facing critical situations are quickly transferred to rescue through ***; In agriculture, forestry and mountainous areas, industry drones shuttle back and forth, quickly complete the scanning of mountains and forests and various data monitoring, intelligently generate data backhaul and process accordingly. Smarter and safer public services are gradually being implemented.
Taking mountain transportation as an example, the Huangshan Scenic Area in Anhui Province, as a typical representative of mountainous scenic spots in China, uses DJI drones to open up drone transportation routes in order to effectively solve the problem of mountain material transportation, which effectively alleviates the pressure of mountain and mountain material transportation. Previously, the average daily transportation demand of 15-20 tons of materials in the tourist season from April to November in Huangshan Scenic Area could only be transported by means of secondary transportation by manpower and cableway, facing the problems of insufficient capacity, high labor intensity and difficult to sustain the growth of transportation capacity in traditional transportation methods.
According to statistics, the drone transportation routes opened up in the Huangshan Scenic Area far away from the pedestrian trail area adopt a single-line double-machine operation mode, and only from June 1, 2023 to January 10, 2024, a total of 251 materials will be transported5 tons (about 50.)30,000 catties), of which the maximum daily transportation volume of the double-machine hanging exceeds 5,000 catties, and the daily operation of the scenic spot requires fresh materials such as meat, vegetables, mineral water, rice, as well as packaged garbage, silt and other materials, which can be transported by drones, basically covering the daily operation of the scenic spot, emergency materials and other material transportation needs.
What will the future of agriculture look like?
Ai Haipeng, the manager of the "Super Cotton Field" in Yuli County, Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and an employee of XAG Technology, gave the answer of "drone + smart agriculture". Through the application of XAG agricultural drones, remote sensing drones, agricultural machinery autopilots, agricultural Internet of Things equipment and smart agricultural management systems, the "Super Cotton Field" implements the integrated management of intelligent water and fertilizer, thus realizing "two people managing 3,000 acres of cotton fields".
On December 11, 2023, XAG Technology held its annual general meeting in Guangzhou. Peng Bin, the founder of XAG, brought many agricultural "black technologies" such as agricultural drones P150 and P602024, ACS4 smart handles, SRC4 remote control with screen, DL1 digital chain, and 2024 battery mist cold box. "The earliest drones were like pickup trucks, then like big trucks, and now like giant construction machinery. The front end of the car is getting smaller, more functional, and more capacities. The relevant person in charge of XAG told this reporter that the P150 adopts a new fuselage structure, which reduces the weight of the flight platform in the case of increased load capacity, and promotes the UAV to be more durable, easy to maintain and low maintenance cost by reshaping the mechanical structure and modular design.
With the improvement of technology and scenarios, there will be air service platforms such as taxi software, payment software, and application software in the future, which will further change our lifestyle.
According to the analysis of professionals, the future of low-altitude economy contains infinite possibilities, and low-altitude can not only build a transportation system, but even an industrial system. The emergence of more and more application scenarios will also extend a new industrial chain, such as digital technology, intelligent technology, digital twin technology and other high-tech technologies, which can show their strength in the low-altitude industry.
In fact, on the new "road" of the low-altitude economy, China already has companies running ahead.
In terms of global market share and productization capabilities, Chinese civilian drone manufacturers represented by DJI already have strong competitiveness. Among them, DJI's flight controller, gimbal, image transmission, and self-developed imaging system have formed certain large-scale advantages, and currently account for more than 70% of the global market.
Relying on the competitive advantages formed by technological evolution and R&D iteration, DJI has been at the forefront of the wave of transformation of drones into productivity tools, and has led the application and popularization of drones in multiple vertical industries with the deep integration of "drone technology + application scenarios", and has been widely used in industrial vertical fields such as agriculture, low-altitude transportation, professional imaging, urban governance, emergency rescue, energy and power, forestry and environmental protection, and maritime affairs.
Zhang Xiaonan, director of strategy and spokesman of DJI, told this reporter: "The key to DJI's success is that on the one hand, we have core technologies, which have been researched early and deeply, and have many patents of our own; On the other hand, our first-class chain and production and marketing system, as well as the whole business chain such as after-sales maintenance are better coordinated and support business development; In addition, in order to maximize the application value of UAV equipment, we have lowered the threshold for the use of UAVs, especially commercial UAVs, and provided safe, stable and easy-to-use equipment and solutions for different industries. ”
Cities compete for "new tracks".
During the New Year's Day holiday, Zeng Bin from Beijing enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the city skyline at the Shenzhen Talent Park in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and also experienced a unique "takeaway": it was not the takeaway brother who delivered him food, but a drone with 6 "wings".
At the "airport" set up in the business district of Coastal City, about 1 kilometer away in a straight line, the yellow and black painted drones take off and fall, and the staff put the freshly made meals from the surrounding merchants into special packaging boxes, place them under the drone, and fly to the smart airdrop cabinet set up in Shenzhen Talent Park under the command of the background system. From ordering to getting two cups of tea, it only takes about 15 minutes, and the flight time is less than 5 minutes.
This is one of the 23 drone food delivery routes set up by the Internet platform Meituan in Shenzhen, and it is also the epitome of Shenzhen's low-altitude logistics entering the daily life of residents. According to the statistics of the Shenzhen Municipal Transportation Bureau, in 2023, Shenzhen will open 77 new drone routes, with a total of 156 routes opened, and more than 600,000 cargo drone flights will be completed.
The drone industry is an important part of Shenzhen's strategic emerging industries. In 2023, the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee will hold a special meeting to deploy the city to do a good job in low-altitude economic development; For the first time, Shenzhen wrote the "low-altitude economy" into the first work report, and proposed to build a low-altitude economic center, build a comprehensive demonstration area for the general aviation industry, and a civil unmanned aviation test area. A future-oriented, global "city in the sky" is beginning to take shape.
In addition to the new low-altitude production and service mode supported by drones, Shenzhen's traditional general aviation industry has been in the leading position in the country. In recent years, traditional general aviation short-distance transport enterprises have actively expanded manned flight services, developed new forms of air transportation such as intermodal connections, intra-city commuting, intercity flights, and cross-border flights, and Shenzhen Airport has opened "air taxi" routes to and from Foton CBD one after another, with more than 20,000 flights in 2023.
Drones traveling between high-rise buildings will "airdrop" takeaways to consumers on time, drones that "fly out" from here pollinate and feed in more than 100 countries and regions around the world, and hundreds of high-tech enterprises have jointly organized a world-leading drone industry chain ......With the first-mover advantage of industry, university, research and market application, Shenzhen's low-altitude economic industry has flapped its wings and injected surging impetus into the high-quality development of the economy.
Not only Shenzhen, but also the low-altitude economy is becoming a "new track" for more and more cities to compete. Taking drones as an example, the scale of China's civil drone industry will exceed 120 billion yuan in 2023, ranking first in the world, and it is expected that by 2025, this number will be higher. According to the low-altitude economy*** recently released by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Digital Economy Research Institute (IDEA), by 2025, the comprehensive contribution of the low-altitude economy to China's national economy will reach 3 trillion to 5 trillion yuan.
As long as you take a drone design drawing, Anyang UAV Park has the ability to build a complete drone. In recent years, Anyang City, Henan Province, has built a drone industrial park in the Central Plains High-tech Industrial Development Zone around the strategic goal of building an "aviation sports capital". The low-altitude economy of Anyang City is booming and has become a beautiful business card of the Central Plains Economic Zone.
In Anhui Wuhu Aviation Industrial Park, nearly 140 projects involving complete aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, engines, maintenance and operation have formed an industrial cluster of upstream and downstream support.
Industry experts said that in the future, the application scenarios of low-altitude economy will become more and more diverse, and general airports, aviation parks, aviation towns, drone bases, flight camps, etc. will be dotted, and our sky will be busier.
Xie Xiaowen, an expert member of the New Technology Promotion Branch of the China Communications and Transportation Association, believes that the development of low-altitude economy is conducive to promoting urban industrial upgrading and economic growth, and creating more employment opportunities and economic benefits for the city; It is conducive to enhancing the image and popularity of the city, attracting more investment and talent gathering; It is conducive to promoting the construction of urban infrastructure and promoting the sustainable development of cities; It is conducive to improving urban traffic conditions and improving the quality of life of residents.
Policies should be good "boosters".
Low-altitude economy, fly to warm up.
Hunan, the country's first pilot province with a global low-altitude opening, has just completed the flight verification of 97 low-altitude routes across the province. This can be said to be a safe flight manual, and if you fly according to it, you can "fly when you want".
At the Changsha flight service station, the large screen displays the real-time situation in the air over Hunan that day. Dozens of planes are flying, and many more are preparing for the day's declared plans. At the same time, on the screen, the entire low-altitude airspace of Hunan is divided into 179 blocks, and each piece can be monitored in real time when and how it can fly. For each approved flight plan, its flight path can be quickly simulated to ensure flight safety.
The person in charge of the service station said that the service speed of applying for approval in Hunan airspace can now be increased from the original calculation by days to the current hourly calculation. Just during this year's New Year's Day holiday, the number of general aviation takeoffs and landings in Hunan increased by 83 times, an increase of 17 flight hours9 times.
Not only Hunan, in recent years, focusing on the development of low-altitude economy, the state has continued to strengthen multiple policy support such as airspace policy, economic policy, and industry policy, and promoted the synergy and linkage of top-level design and local exploration, so that the policy can be a good "booster".
In February 2021, the concept of "low-altitude economy" was written into the national plan for the first time. The "National Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline" issued by the Communist Party of China proposes to develop the transportation platform economy, hub economy, channel economy, and low-altitude economy.
From January 1, 2024, the "Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") will come into force to escort the low-altitude economy.
Not only that, recently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that civil aviation will improve the general airport policies, regulations and standards management system this year, support local governments to speed up the construction of general airports and temporary take-off and landing points, and guide and support transport airports to carry out general aviation business. Deepen and expand the development of aeromedical ambulance, drone logistics, emergency rescue, emerging consumption and other business formats. Support the construction of a number of low-altitude economic development demonstration zones based on civil unmanned aviation test zones (bases).
In the view of industry insiders, driven by relevant policy support, the low-altitude economic industry is expected to continue to grow rapidly.
He Tianxing, vice president of Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology, believes that the "Regulations" will regulate the flight and related activities of unmanned aerial vehicles, provide a standardized guarantee for the commercial operation of unmanned manned aircraft, lay a solid foundation for continuous promotion of commercialization, and help promote the construction and improvement of low-altitude economic ecology.
The Regulations also propose that the state actively innovate the airspace supply and use mechanism on the premise of ensuring safety, and improve the supporting infrastructure and service system for unmanned aircraft flight. This is an extremely good signal for the development of the industry, which is conducive to promoting the rapid, efficient and healthy development of the unmanned aircraft industry. He Tianxing said.
Cao Yunchun, director of the Airport Economic Research Center of the Civil Aviation University of China, believes that the development of low-altitude economy is inseparable from the normative guidance of policies and regulations. Cao Yunchun said that the healthy development of the low-altitude economy needs to be strongly supported by policies and regulations, including the strategic planning and policy system for the development of the low-altitude economy, as well as preferential policies in terms of finance, finance, and land. Through the formulation of a sound regulatory system, more market players will be attracted to participate in the investment and operation of the low-altitude economy.
Taking advantage of the first-class policy, policies to speed up the layout of low-altitude industries have also been introduced.
In 2023, Wuhu City, Anhui Province issued the "Action Plan for the High-quality Development of Low-altitude Economy (2023-2025)", proposing that by 2025, the number of low-altitude economy-related enterprises will exceed 300, including more than 10 leading enterprises, the number of "specialized, special and new" enterprises and high-tech enterprises will double, and the output value of low-altitude industries will reach 50 billion yuan.
In December 2023, the "Several Measures to Promote the High-quality Development of Low-altitude Economy in Guangzhou Development District (Huangpu District)" and the detailed implementation rules of the policy were announced. Guangzhou Development Zone and Huangpu District will award and subsidize up to 30 million yuan for eligible low-altitude industrial projects, and accelerate the construction of 100 billion yuan industrial clusters in the future.
On December 29, 2023, the Regulations on the Promotion of Low-altitude Economic Industries in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone were voted and passed by the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh People's Congress of Shenzhen and will be implemented on February 1, 2024. This is the country's first special regulation on the promotion of low-altitude economic industry, which provides legal guarantee for promoting the development of Shenzhen's low-altitude economic industry. (ENDS).
Written by Yang Junfeng.