Low-altitude economy advances toward "emerging pillar industry," Shanghai Changning explores the "optimal solution"

Ask AI · How can the Yangtze River Delta collaboration accelerate intercity low-altitude flight operations?

21st Century Economic Report reporter Sun Yan reports from Shanghai

From 2024 to 2026, the low-altitude economy has been included in the government work report for three consecutive years, marking a stepwise elevation in its positioning from “new growth engine” to “emerging industry” and then to “emerging pillar industry.”

On March 18, the “Gathering Chains to Create Momentum, Leading Innovation for the Future—Yangpu District Low-altitude Economy Industry Seminar” was held at the Donghongqiao Center in Changning District, Shanghai. As an important part of the 2026 Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference, this event was co-hosted by the Changning District Investment Promotion Office, the World Youth Science & Technology Innovation Committee, and the China Science and Technology Development Foundation Youth Scientist Industry-University-Research Innovation Consortium.

During this critical window period where the low-altitude economy transitions from “emerging industry” to “emerging pillar industry,” the industry’s desire for technological implementation and business closure is growing stronger.

In this context, the seminar brought together 25 industry organizations, of which 14 were startups, with 70% concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, alongside 10 supporting investment institutions, showcasing a “midstream-dominated, upstream and downstream collaboration” characteristic of the industrial chain.

Earlier this year, Shanghai released “Several Measures for Linking the Yangtze River Delta to Accelerate the Construction of Advanced Manufacturing Clusters for the Low-altitude Economy in Shanghai” (hereinafter referred to as “Several Measures”), proposing the establishment of a highland for low-altitude economic collaboration in the Yangtze River Delta.

Backed by the world-class industrial cluster of the Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai has a unique advantage in developing the low-altitude economy. The dense urban clusters, intertwined water networks, and developed e-commerce logistics in the Yangtze River Delta provide a perfect testing and application scenario for the “grid-like” low-altitude economy; with accelerated breakthroughs in airspace coordination and infrastructure connectivity, the normalized operation of low-altitude flights “across cities and provinces” is gradually becoming a reality.

“Shanghai has a good comparative advantage in eVTOL, large industrial drones, and the supporting industrial chain system, which is also an important direction for our collaboration with the Yangtze River Delta to build advanced manufacturing clusters for the low-altitude economy,” said Guo Lei, Director of the Major Equipment Industry Department of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, during the seminar.

Guo Lei pointed out that Shanghai is promoting Changning District to become a headquarters zone for the low-altitude economy, linking with Jinshan to build a manufacturing base for the low-altitude economy and simultaneously constructing low-altitude testing and flight testing matrices in Pudong, Minhang, and other areas.

Zhao Yongzun, Deputy District Mayor of Changning, stated that as the only central urban area of the Hongqiao International Open Hub, Changning enjoys the advantages of the Hongqiao International Airport hub, with headquarters of base airlines accounting for 60% of the city, and is accelerating the extension of the aviation economy from high altitude to low altitude, creating a gathering area for low-altitude economy headquarters. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Changning will incorporate the low-altitude economy into the “3+3” key industrial system, relying on the eastern “Shanghai Silicon Alley” innovation street and the western Hongqiao International Low-altitude Economy Industrial Park to build an innovative pattern.

Currently, Changning is advancing the construction of the Hongqiao International Low-altitude Economy Industrial Park, co-building a new type of aircraft airworthiness certification capability system in the city, establishing a low-altitude flight service center and a Shanghai low-altitude economy reception hall, creating a highland for low-altitude regulatory standards, operating entities, and additional services, and promoting the aviation industry from high altitude to low altitude.

Currently, Shanghai has gathered the “Five Little Dragons of eVTOL”: Peakfly Aviation, Shidi Technology, Volant, Yufeng Future, and Tianling Technology.

Looking towards 2028, the “Several Measures” clearly set a goal: the core industry scale of Shanghai’s low-altitude economy will reach around 80 billion yuan, accelerating towards becoming the “World Capital of eVTOL” with prominent comparative advantages.

Su Xuexue, Strategic Executive President of Shanghai Volant Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., shared at the seminar that the safety level requirements for eVTOL vary among logistics cargo, tourism, emergency rescue, and commercial passenger transportation. Among these, commercial passenger transportation has the highest requirements, and the VE25-100 Tianxing developed by the company is positioned as a commercial passenger-grade eVTOL.

“We expect to obtain the TC (Type Certificate) in 2027,” Su Xuexue revealed. Although commercial operations can only begin after certification, the company has already secured intentions and confirmed orders both domestically and internationally, with 1,920 intention orders amounting to approximately 48 billion yuan. “Last year, we facilitated five customers to place confirmed orders, making us the only domestic manufacturer to obtain high-level commercial passenger confirmation orders.”

Su Xuexue anticipates that by mid-2027, eVTOLs will gradually be put into commercial passenger service in China. However, this will not happen all at once; it will start with low-altitude sightseeing, then move to emergency and medical use, and finally be deployed for large-scale commercial passenger transport. In her view, the application of eVTOL in commercial passenger transport is similar to that of cars, initially used for point-to-point connections, followed by air buses, and ultimately for private travel.

In line with Volant, Blue Vector Intelligent Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. has also chosen the “large passenger aircraft” track but opted for a tilt-rotor technology route.

“Everyone is thinking about how to convert fuel aircraft into electric aircraft; we are considering more about whether we can make it smarter in addition to using electric power,” said Wang Yu, Vice President of the company, during the seminar. The company has launched an “open eVTOL electronic and electrical architecture based on software definition”—IIS, “hoping the IIS system can empower more manufacturers.”