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19:43

shanghai is stepping up its efforts to build a "sky city" with international influence. in the middle of this month, shanghai issued two important documents to anchor the low-altitude economic development goals and boost industrial development.

as one of the earliest cities in china to develop low-altitude economy, shanghai has formed a relatively complete industrial system from front-end materials, aircraft r&d and design, to testing bases and commercial applications. in the "competitive battle" of low-altitude economy, shanghai is undoubtedly a front-row player. how will the "sky city" prepare for its next stop? dragon tv's "tonight" special column "understanding shanghai" invited ren he, director of the expert committee of the shanghai general aviation association, and xie jia, senior vice president of fengfei aviation technology, to discuss together.

shanghai presses the "accelerator" to issue documents and open routes

on august 16, the general office of the shanghai municipal government officially issued the "shanghai low-altitude economic industry high-quality development action plan (2024-2027)", proposing that by 2027, shanghai will establish a complete industrial system for the research and development, design, assembly and manufacturing, airworthiness testing, and commercial application of new low-altitude aircraft, and create three "highlands" including low-altitude economic industry innovation, commercial applications and operational services. the scale of the core industry will reach more than 50 billion yuan. it will also join forces with cities in the yangtze river delta to build the first batch of low-altitude inter-provincial aviation cities in the country and build a national comprehensive demonstration and leading area for the low-altitude economic industry.

at the same time, the shanghai communications administration also issued the "guiding opinions" to further promote the development of shanghai's low-altitude economy from the perspective of accelerating the construction of low-altitude intelligent networks. for example, it is necessary to gradually achieve low-altitude intelligent network coverage based on 5g-a, and provide information services such as three-dimensional high-precision maps, meteorological data, and communication navigation.

low-altitude economy generally refers to a comprehensive economic form that radiates and drives the integrated development of related fields, driven by various low-altitude flight activities of manned and unmanned aircraft within the low-altitude airspace below 1,000 meters in vertical altitude, which can be extended to no more than 3,000 meters according to actual needs.

in the opinion of ren he, director of the expert committee of the shanghai general aviation association, shanghai is accelerating the development layout of the low-altitude economic industry, and it pays attention to planning before taking action. that is, it starts with top-level design, formulates relevant industry norms and goals, and then starts with cultivating leading enterprises, enriching business scenarios and breaking through iconic products, and proposes quantitative and specific deployments.

for example, the action plan proposes to accelerate the airworthiness certification of new energy general aviation aircraft, to develop the capacity to mass-produce more than 200 industrial-grade uavs and ton-class cargo electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft and more than 100 ton-class manned electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft annually, and to accelerate the promotion and application of products.

just two days after shanghai released the important document, on the 18th, the low-altitude passenger route from shanghai pudong to kunshan, jiangsu was officially opened. this is also the first cross-provincial designated low-altitude passenger transport route in the country.

this inter-provincial low-altitude passenger route is about 85 kilometers long and takes less than 30 minutes. during the flight, landmark buildings such as the zhangjiang science gate and the wusongkou international cruise port are in full view.

in the initial stage of operation, the route will be operated once a day during the morning and evening peak hours, with 3 to 4 passengers each time, and each passenger can bring a 20-inch suitcase. at present, in the market promotion stage, the one-way flight price of the route is 1,600 to 1,800 yuan. in the future, the route will also expand its business to tourism, medical emergency and other fields.

as one of the companies that is also building "air taxis", xie jia, senior vice president of fengfei aviation technology, pointed out that compared with traditional flying tools, the evtol electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, known as "air taxis", can lead the future transportation revolution.

first of all, evtol is purely electric, which not only simplifies the complex mechanical structure of the aircraft, but also reduces the maintenance cost of the aircraft; secondly, its vertical take-off and landing function can also save a lot of infrastructure costs, and its autonomous driving function can reduce the training cost and entry threshold of drivers; in addition, it produces less noise during flight and is suitable for short-distance transportation near cities and residential areas.

"with the continuous progress of related technologies and industries, evtol is expected to achieve a significant reduction in costs and offer more affordable ticket prices, transforming from a 'niche pilot' to a 'mass experience'," said xie jia.

what are shanghai’s advantages in the competition for “sky city”?

demonstration application is an important way to promote the development of emerging industries. in addition to "air taxis", in shanghai, the application scenarios of low-altitude economy are becoming more and more abundant with the advancement of technology, and the pace of "ideal into reality" is accelerating.

one day in late august, the shanghai jinshan water airport was filled with blue water. with a roar, a drone flew back from not far away and slowly landed vertically on the water platform. the staff then took out the goods from the drone: large yellow croaker and other seafood from zhoushan, zhejiang.

this is a demonstration scene of the sea fresh food transportation by the fengyu shuntu "fengzhou 90" drone of sf express. at present, the company's cross-sea fresh cold chain transportation service has achieved normal operation of 10 flights per day and 50 flights per week. in july this year, the company also opened shanghai's first cross-river drone medicine delivery route, which can realize the rapid cross-river transportation of blood products and emergency drugs.

the east china uav base, which conducts scenario application tests for the company's uavs, has also opened eight uav logistics routes, including jinshan to zhoushan and jinshan to shengsi island, as well as a 1-square-kilometer land test flight take-off and landing point.

the east china uav base was established in 2018. so far, the base has introduced 38 companies in the uav industry chain covering manufacturing, application, materials, etc., with a total planned investment of 3.33 billion yuan. in 2023, jinshan uav industry cluster will be selected as a national-level small and medium-sized enterprise characteristic industry cluster.

in addition to its unparalleled competitive advantages in base carrying capacity and industrial integration, shanghai also has 70% of the country's civil aviation system professionals, and has gathered about 50% of the country's evtol (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) leading innovative companies such as fengfei, volant, and yufeng future.

in addition, shanghai has a very important "space" advantage. the three-year action plan for the integrated development of the yangtze river delta (2024-2026) proposes to accelerate the layout of low-altitude industrial infrastructure construction, product research and development, and manufacturing. the various regions in the yangtze river delta are synergistic and complementary, and have the potential for division of labor and cooperation in the construction of the low-altitude economic industry ecology.

in xie jia's view, shanghai has favorable soil for developing low-altitude economy. for example, shanghai is the "first city of new energy vehicles", and the "three-electric system" technology possessed by this industry can enable the upgrade of evtol aircraft, and shanghai's relatively complete aviation industry chain will also be of great help to the research and development and manufacturing of evtol aircraft.

xie jia also said that as one of the most international regions in china, shanghai is also a window for chinese technology companies to showcase themselves to the outside world, and can create new opportunities for the development of the low-altitude economy.

the low-altitude "blue ocean" has arrived in shanghai. how can it achieve "high flight"?

today, the low-altitude economy has become one of the key areas of development in various parts of the country. behind this, a new trillion-level track is gradually emerging. a research report shows that by 2026, my country's low-altitude economy is expected to exceed one trillion yuan. in order to "get gdp from the sky", many places are working at full capacity and actively making plans.

in zhuhai, guangdong, the low-altitude airspace coordination service system is like an "air traffic light", coordinating the "stop, go, and wait" of various types of aircraft, and can also generate an "air map" to make the release of airspace more secure.

hefei, anhui, has attracted major industry players such as ehang by virtue of its locational advantage in the yangtze river delta, and has also received investment commitments of up to us$100 million.

more than 10 provinces and cities, including beijing and zhejiang, have also made general aviation airports and low-altitude tourism a priority for development.

the central region is also "landing" in the low-altitude economy. xi'an, shaanxi province, has rapidly emerged as an important drone center in china, with more than 1,600 new companies registered between 2022 and 2023 alone.

in addition, in august this year alone, relevant support policies for low-altitude economy were frequently issued in many places across the country. on the 12th, henan issued the "implementation plan for promoting the high-quality development of low-altitude economy in the province", requiring the completion of the layout of low-altitude economic infrastructure by 2025 and the initial establishment of a low-altitude airspace management mechanism. foshan, guangdong, followed closely behind, clearly stating that by 2030, the output value of the low-altitude economic industrial cluster will exceed 10 billion yuan.

according to incomplete statistics, projects related to the low-altitude economy in jiangxi, guangdong, hubei and other places are applying for filing or have already been filed. many cities have also established various industrial funds to provide various financial support, land and preferential policies.

from a global perspective, the development of the low-altitude economy has also gone through the stages of early application exploration, standardized development and popular application. relevant research reports show that last year, the global low-altitude economy market size has reached hundreds of billions of dollars, and it is expected to continue to expand at a double-digit annual growth rate in the next few years.

ren he said that the low-altitude economy is an emerging industry that is competed for globally. it has the characteristics of a long industrial chain, a wide radiation area, and strong driving force. therefore, it can play a huge role in the upgrading of related industries and the conversion of momentum.

for shanghai, due to its long-term accumulation in new energy vehicles, information technology, and communication technology, many leading evtol companies have gathered here. this cluster effect will help shanghai connect with precise customer groups, expand domestic and foreign markets, enhance brand influence, and enable the low-altitude economy to better meet the people's needs for a better life. it will showcase rich innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities in the low-altitude field, help various regions accelerate the implementation of new quality productivity in the low-altitude economy, and solidly promote high-quality development.

kankan news reporter: song yi, shu ke, zhao feifei

editors: fang feifei, huang yanlin

editor: zhao xin