Innovation in the low altitude equipment industry continues to support the takeoff of low altitude economic security
Beijing, December 1 (Xinhua) -- The development of China's low altitude equipment industry is showing a good trend, with related industries constantly innovating and demonstrating enormous development potential.
At the recent 2025 Low altitude Equipment Industry Innovation and Development Conference, Lei Ying, Deputy Director of the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated that China will achieve a low altitude equipment output value of about 52 billion yuan in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of over 10% during the 14th Five Year Plan period.
It is worth noting that the innovation vitality of the low altitude equipment industry has significantly increased, and the forward-looking research and development reserves are abundant. Lei Ying pointed out that "there are nearly 30 tonnage unmanned aerial vehicles under development, and over 70 types of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft." This reflects that the industry is developing towards more diversified applications.
According to Lei Ying, as of now, there are 977 registered enterprises for civil unmanned aerial vehicle product information systems, 3222 registered products, and a total of 17 civil unmanned aerial vehicles have been approved for trial flights.
While the industry is developing rapidly, safety has always been given top priority. Dong Zhiyi, former deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and chief expert on low altitude economy at the Chinese Aeronautical Society, emphasized that "the development of low altitude economy must first promote the development of related industries, such as upstream industries. If their safety is not well planned, arranged, and coordinated, it will be difficult to promote and implement low altitude economy
Dong Zhiyi suggested that key areas such as the research and development of new complete machines, new power systems, airborne systems, and core components should be coordinated to build a solid safety foundation from the upstream of the industrial chain.
Zhang Xuejun, Secretary General of the Low altitude Intelligent Networking Technology Committee of the Low altitude Industry Alliance and a professor at Beihang University, proposed a risk-based refined management approach: "Due to the rich application scenarios of drones, different scenarios and aircraft have different risks. We believe that the collision risk in the air will ultimately lead to landing, and the level of damage to the ground is the ultimate risk
Zhang Xuejun suggested that scenarios should be managed in different zones based on the initial operational risks. For example, in areas with different population densities, differentiated safety management standards should be adopted to ensure that risks are controllable.
While ensuring the safe development of the low altitude equipment industry, attention should also be paid to forming differentiated competitive advantages. Zhang Liguo, Secretary General of the Low altitude Equipment Safety Technical Committee of the Low altitude Industry Alliance and a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology, said, "It is recommended to concentrate the construction of the low altitude economic industry relatively, not necessarily in one city, but to form a regional one-stop service capability. This can share costs and avoid vicious competition between cities
Information source: China News Network
