"kechuangban daily" october 2 (reporter yu jiaxin)"people from the government of nanchang, anyang, zhuhai and other places came here early in the morning. i really didn't expect that the development of low-altitude economy in many cities would be so rapid." at the recently held 2024 shenzhen evtol industry development conference and low-altitude economy exhibition, an evtol start-up the ceo of the company told a reporter from the science and technology innovation board daily.

running exhibitions, assisting with financing, and developing infrastructure... a reporter from the "science and technology innovation board daily" noticed that the low-level economy is currently booming. in addition to beijing, shanghai, guangzhou, shenzhen, and new first-tier cities such as chengdu and suzhou, the second-tier and third-tier cities are currently accelerating their entry into evtol.

"although the low-altitude economy is still in the early stages of industrial development at this stage, it is clear that this is an industry with development potential. investing in the low-altitude economy means investing in future industries, which can greatly promote the improvement of the industrial chain in local regions." some insiders sources said that second- and third-tier cities are pursuing their success, and many cities are using their existing aviation talents and infrastructure to attract companies.

▍many places in china are accelerating the layout of low-altitude economy

“many local government departments we have communicated with so far have stated that they can directly inject capital and our headquarters or r&d center can remain in shenzhen, but production and manufacturing must be moved there accordingly.” the ceo of the above-mentioned start-up company from shenzhen told the science and technology innovation board daily reporter.

at the exhibition site, a person from a state-owned enterprise in xi'an told a reporter from the science and technology innovation board daily that he has attended many exhibitions this year and has been "digging for projects." "xi'an has a very good aviation foundation and talent reserve, the government still hopes to seize the low-altitude economic track to enhance the layout of the industrial chain. "

"many second- and third-tier cities have also released their own low-altitude economic development action plans, set development goals for the low-altitude economy, and have corresponding application scenario requirements. at present, the strategies of many central and western cities and second- and third-tier cities are relatively clear, which is to attract and improve industrial chain enterprises have been launched to create an evtol industrial chain with regional attributes to empower the implementation of downstream low-altitude economic scenarios," said bu rixin, founder of chuangdao hard technology.

a reporter from the "kechuangban daily" noticed that in addition to recruiting industry-related talents, many places in china have also continued to make efforts in policy support and infrastructure layout.

in august this year, the jiangxi provincial development and reform commission issued the "opinions of jiangxi province on promoting high-quality development of low-altitude economy (draft for comment)" and related documents. it mentioned that by 2026, jiangxi province will strive to comprehensively improve its low-altitude manufacturing capabilities, application levels, and industrial ecology, driving the province's economic growth to exceed 200 billion yuan, including striving to gather 300 low-altitude manufacturing and related supporting enterprises, striving to create a national-level new general aviation equipment manufacturing cluster; about 23 general airports, about 500 helicopter take-off and landing points (including fixed and temporary take-off and landing points) and a number of drone (including evtol) take-off and landing sites have been built.

on september 26 this year, gongqingcheng qingyun changkong economic and industrial investment guidance fund partnership (limited partnership) (hereinafter referred to as: qingyun changkong fund) successfully passed the registration with the china securities investment fund industry association. it is reported that qingyun changkong fund has a scale of 5 billion yuan and a term of 15 years, 60% of which is invested in low-altitude industries in gongqing city.

a reporter from "kechuangban daily" noticed that zhongshan city, which has always been relatively "low-key" in the greater bay area, also appeared on the list of evtol investors.

on september 19 this year, yufeng future completed a pre-b round of financing of over 200 million yuan. this round of financing was led by zhongshan venture capital, a subsidiary of the zhongshan state-owned assets supervision and administration commission. the funds will be mainly used to promote the company's next phase of evtol product research and development, testing, airworthiness certification and other processes, as well as the construction of r&d and manufacturing centers in the guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area and the yangtze river delta region surrounding hangzhou bay, and the exploration of application scenarios.

▍enterprises: pay attention to local long-term investment capabilities

it should be noted that many industry insiders told reporters from the science and technology innovation board daily that currently second- and third-tier cities may face certain pressures in developing low-altitude economies.

bu rixin, founder of chuangdao hard technology, told a reporter from the science and technology innovation board daily that the low-altitude economy is currently developing faster in cities along the eastern coastal areas. this is related to the level of local economic development and the maturity of the supporting industrial chain. "most evtol machine manufacturers are gathered in eastern coastal cities, which has played a role in promoting the implementation of scenario applications."

the above-mentioned person from a state-owned enterprise in xi'an said that the progress of its development projects is not smooth. "the actual application scenarios of many start-up companies are not easy to implement, and it is difficult to achieve transformation."

generally speaking, targeting start-up enterprises has become the direction for many second- and third-tier cities to lay out low-level economies. industry insiders said that although evtol companies are still in their early stages, many leading companies have strong ties with local governments, such as ehang, guangzhou, and even cooperation with hefei.

the ceo of the above-mentioned evtol start-up also confirmed this situation to a reporter from the science and technology innovation board daily. from a business perspective, the person said, “we don’t just look at the temporary discounts, but also look at whether the local government invests in the long term. this includes the opening of airspace in the early stage, the allocation of funds, venues and even personnel; the later stage after the complete machine is produced. airworthiness support and subsequent operational services need to be planned in advance.”

a reporter from the "kechuangban daily" noticed that many local governments are currently improving the low-altitude economy-related industrial chains in an all-round way. according to incomplete statistics, since september this year, low-altitude industry-related companies with state-owned assets background have been established in shandong, suzhou, wenzhou, wuxi, guangzhou huangpu and other places. the business scope covers aviation operation support services, aircraft maintenance, personnel training, aircraft sales, 5g communication technology, etc.

among them, yu minqiang, director of the industry and information technology bureau of pingshan district, shenzhen, mentioned at a recent exhibition that in the next two years, pingshan will add 41 new take-off and landing sites, including helicopter/evtol take-off and landing points and logistics distribution take-off and landing points.

with the help of many places, the low-altitude economic industry has ushered in rapid development. as more details continue to be implemented and improved, the story of "city in the sky" may continue to write more new chapters.