Under the active guidance of the policy, coupled with the continuous maturity of related technologies and a wide range of application scenarios, it is time to vigorously develop the low-altitude economy and open up a trillion-level market, and with the implementation of the low-altitude economic development goals in various places, 2024 is expected to become the first year of the great development of the low-altitude economy.
■夏金彪
Recently, 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 a two-step development goal for the low-altitude economy in 2027 and 2030, which 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, the mainland's general aviation equipment supply capacity and industrial innovation ability will be significantly improved, and the basic support system of modern general aviation will be basically established. Aviation emergency rescue, logistics and distribution to achieve large-scale application, urban air transport to achieve commercial operation, the formation of more than 20 replicable, can be promoted typical application demonstrations, to create a number of low-altitude economic application demonstration bases, the formation of a number of brand products.
By 2030, a new model for the development of the general aviation industry characterized by high-end, intelligent and green will be basically established, supporting and guaranteeing the "short-distance transportation + electric vertical take-off and landing" passenger transport network, the "trunk-branch-end" UAV distribution network, and the safe and efficient operation of low-altitude production operations to meet the needs of workers and farmers.
Low-altitude economy is a new concept that has emerged in recent years, which refers to a comprehensive economic form that focuses on civil manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, takes multi-scenario low-altitude flight activities such as manned, cargo and other operations as the traction, and radiates and drives the integrated development of related fields. With policy support and related technological innovation, the low-altitude economy is expanding from the exploration and development stage to the application scenarios. At present, from scenery tours to urban security, from medical aid to emergency rescue, from agriculture and forestry plant protection to power inspection, the low-altitude economy has a wide range of application scenarios.
In recent years, the low-altitude economic support policy has 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 written into the national plan for the first time. In October 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four ministries and commissions issued the "Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry Development Outline (2023-2035)", proposing to strive to put electric general aviation aircraft into commercial application by 2025, and new energy aircraft to become the mainstream of development by 2035. Among them, special mention is made of the pilot operation of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). From January 1, 2024, the "Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" will be officially implemented, marking that the mainland drone industry will enter a new stage of standardized development with "laws to follow".
At present, the relevant technologies for the development of the mainland's low-altitude economy are also maturing, taking UAVs as an example, according to the "2024 Outlook for the Development of the Mainland UAV Industry" released by the CCID Research Institute, according to incomplete statistics, in 2023, there will be more than 16,000 UAV-related enterprises in the country, and more than 12,000 enterprises in the midstream, accounting for more than 70%, including UAV platforms, sensors, software and algorithms. Among them, mainland civilian drone manufacturers represented by DJI occupy a leading position in the global market.
Since the beginning of this year, the mainland has also begun to explore the commercial application scenarios of the low-altitude economy. On February 27, the world's first eVTOL cross-sea and cross-city airroute (Shenzhen-Zhuhai) successfully completed its first flight, and the original one-way 2.5-3 hour ground drive only takes 20 minutes in the air. On March 18, EHang EH216-S, the world's first domestically developed "air taxi" to obtain airworthiness certification, was put on the shelves and sold on the Taobao industrial products platform, which means that the time for the "air taxi" to fly into ordinary people's homes may not have to wait too long. According to the estimation of the research unit, the market size of the mainland'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 the low-altitude economy as a national strategic emerging industry, and the low-altitude economy was also written into this year's "Government Work Report" for the first time. At present, all localities are taking the low-altitude economy as a new highland for speeding up the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces. According to incomplete statistics, this year, at least 18 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) such as Beijing, Guangdong, Anhui, Sichuan, and Jiangsu have written the low-altitude economy into the "Government Work Report" of various places.
The "implementation plan" mainly put forward five key tasks, covering technology, industrial chain and supply chain, application fields, infrastructure, integration ecology, etc., through a unified top-level planning and guidance, strengthen the coordination between the central and local governments, ensure the integration of resources, form a joint force, and avoid "rushing up". The promulgation of the "Implementation Plan" marks that the development of the mainland's low-altitude economy has entered a new stage.
It is believed that under the active guidance of the policy, coupled with the continuous maturity of related technologies and a wide range of application scenarios, it is time to vigorously develop the low-altitude economy and open up a trillion-level market, and with the implementation of the low-altitude economic development goals in various places, 2024 is expected to become the first year of the great development of the low-altitude economy.
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Chief Producer丨Wang Hui and Che Haigang
Producer丨Li Piguang, Wang Yu, Liu Weimin
Editor-in-Chief丨Mao Jinghui Editor丨Zou Duo