A Changying-8 cargo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) lands after a test flight at an airport in Zhengzhou, Central China”s Henan province, March 31, 2026. [Photo/Xinhua]
For decades, China’s economic growth has largely unfolded on land — across factory floors, highways and ports. Now the country is turning its gaze upward.
What was once empty airspace below commercial flight paths is the next frontier of industrial expansion.
The so-called “low-altitude economy” — encompassing drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), airborne data platforms and the infrastructure that supports them — is poised to become a pillar of China’s next development cycle.
The political signal is unmistakable.
Since 2023, the concept has been elevated from policy discussion to national strategy, written into successive top-level planning…
