An airship carrying tourists flies over a tourist attraction in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. Photo: IC PHOTO

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As a representative example of new quality productive forces, the low-altitude economy is being empowered by information-based and digital management technologies. Deeply integrated into economic and social activities, it holds vast development potential. Defined by characteristics such as spatial three-dimensionality, regional dependency, digital ecology, industrial convergence, and strong spillover effects, the low-altitude economy represents a new type of integrated economic activity spanning the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. It encompasses a wide range of industries and application scenarios, including aviation, tourism, logistics and delivery, agricultural and forestry protection, and public safety.

Amid growing enthusiasm for the low-altitude economy across China, new application scenarios continue to emerge, along with innovative practices in the “low-altitude+” space. However, despite this rapid expansion, a number of risks and challenges loom large. Issues related to the standardization of management practices, the specialization and diversification of services, resource allocation, and institutional frameworks have yet to be fully resolved.

Diversifying application scenarios 

A wide array of new “low-altitude economy+” models is taking shape, as the low-altitude economy explores diversified commercial applications across fields such as transportation, logistics, tourism, and agriculture—each driven by tangible, real-world needs.

The “low-altitude+transportation” model is opening new possibilities for urban air mobility, using electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to help ease pressure on congested ground networks. Flying cars and similar technologies are contributing to this effort. The rise of “low-altitude+logistics” responds to growing societal demand for fast, efficient, and flexible delivery solutions. In tourism, “low-altitude+tourism” is evolving in more personalized and varied directions, aided by reforms in low-altitude airspace management that offer new room for growth. Meanwhile, unmanned arial vehicles (UAVs) and other aircraft are increasingly used in agricultural plant protection, environmental monitoring, logistics, operations management, tourism, and R&D of smart agricultural equipment—making the “low-altitude+agriculture” model a powerful enabler of agricultural modernization.

The diversification of application scenarios in the low-altitude economy is propelling the development of new quality productive forces through advances in technology, factors, and practical integration. First, these applications demand technological innovation as a driver of new quality productive forces. Integration across sectors requires foundational infrastructure, while higher low-altitude management efficiency relies on digital systems incorporating AI, big data, and cloud computing. Safe and efficient low-altitude flight depends on upgraded communication, navigation, surveillance, and meteorological systems. Operational efficiency, in turn, calls for optimized layouts of physical infrastructure such as general aviation airports and dedicated take-off and landing zones.

Second, low-altitude applications inject new factors into the development of new quality productive forces. As a high-tech field, the low-altitude economy requires a skilled workforce with solid professional knowledge and skills for talent-driven productivity gains. The novel objects and means of labor introduced by these applications expand the forms and types of labor involved, enhancing both productivity and management capabilities.

Finally, low-altitude applications broaden the application range of new quality productive forces. Technologies such as UAVs are enabling deeper integration between advanced tools and real-world scenarios across industries, significantly improving operational efficiency and sectoral performance—thus serving as a powerful engine for the continued development of new quality productive forces.

Local practices

As the low-altitude economy develops rapidly, it is imperative to expedite the establishment of both a production relations system and an institutional framework that align with new quality productive forces.

In recent years, regions across China have unveiled plans to promote the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy. Cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Anhui, Shanxi, Guangdong, Hunan, and Inner Mongolia have successively issued and implemented policies tailored to their specific regional goals. For example, Guangdong Province has positioned itself as the world’s leading hub for the low-altitude economy, while Shanghai aims to develop a globally influential “Sky City.” Hunan and Beijing are striving to become national demonstration province and city, respectively, for low-altitude economic development, and regions like Anhui Province and Jiangsu in Nanjing Province are working to establish themselves as leaders in the sector nationwide. In pursuit of these goals, these areas are actively implementing relevant policies and systems. However, many of their plans remain overly broad in scope, risking disorderly or aimless implementation.

Safety regulation in the low-altitude economy entails a series of supervisory and management measures designed to ensure flight safety. These include safety assessments, monitoring, coordination, and emergency response and rescue services for low-altitude flight activities. However, challenges persist, such as unclear safety standards, incomplete legal frameworks, outdated infrastructure, ambiguous division of responsibilities, and inadequate service guarantees. These policy-related issues contribute to the uncertainty surrounding the application and development of the low-altitude economy.

The integration of science and technology is a fundamental path toward modernizing productive forces, with the expansion of new industries and the transformation of traditional sectors being practical steps in this process. With its vast market potential, the low-altitude economy calls for the concerted efforts of all sectors of society, focusing on demand-driven solutions to overcome the current bottlenecks. This will help establish the low-altitude economy as a key driver of new quality productive forces, providing a new growth point for new quality productive forces to boost China’s economic development.

Xie Baojian is a professor from the School of Economics at Jinan University in Guangdong Province.

Edited by CHEN MIRONG