Guangzhou Leads China’s Low-Altitude Economy Takeoff, Boosting GBA’s New Kinetic Energy
GUANGZHOU, April 5 – At Suigang Wharf, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) soar through the wind, crossing the river to Dongguan in just two minutes; above the Pearl River, low-altitude passenger-carrying aerial vehicles cruise steadily, offering a panoramic view of the scenery on both banks; in Huangpu Bonded Area, drones shuttle within 120-meter-high virtual electronic fences, with logistics routes operating regularly. For the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the low-altitude economy has long stepped out of science fiction and integrated into the daily development of the bay area’s cities, according to China Daily reports. This “industrial revolution” sweeping the sky is also continuously driving the acceleration of China’s trillion-yuan low-altitude economy blue ocean.
Included in the Government Work Report for two consecutive years and incorporated into the 15th Five-Year Plan Proposal, China’s low-altitude economy industry has entered the fast lane with the continuous release of policy dividends. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) shows that the market scale of China’s low-altitude economy reached 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025, with nearly 20,000 UAV operation enterprises and the annual order volume of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) exceeding 30 billion yuan. Core technologies have achieved a key leap from “catching up” to “partial leadership”. With refined airspace management and the completion of core component certification, 2026 is expected to mark the end of “pilot flights” and the start of the “normal operation” era for the low-altitude economy.
With policies as the foundation and scenarios as the core, Guangzhou is striving to build a national benchmark for low-altitude economy development. As a core layout city for the low-altitude economy in the GBA, the city has established a policy system of “regulations + plans + measures + detailed rules”, set up a 10-billion-yuan aerospace industry fund, and cultivated more than 4,200 industrial chain enterprises and 65 core enterprises, forming a full-chain industrial closed loop. The world’s first flying car production line was put into operation here, and the world’s first fully certified passenger-carrying autonomous aerial vehicle was successfully approved, making Guangzhou the first city to usher in the era of low-altitude unmanned commercial flight.
It is learned from the forum that currently, Guangzhou’s low-altitude applications cover 6 major fields including logistics and passenger travel, with 93 scenario demands accurately matched with 115 scenario supplies. Scenarios such as Huangpu cross-border e-commerce low-altitude intelligent customs clearance and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen “half-hour bay area business circle” have been implemented, bringing the low-altitude economy from the laboratory to daily life step by step.
Li Shuhan, relevant person in charge of a Guangzhou-based passenger-carrying flying car R&D and manufacturing enterprise, introduced that the company’s two-seat flying car has completed its first real-scene flight at Haixinsha, and has now secured more than 2,000 intentional orders. Mass production and delivery are expected to start by the end of 2026 after obtaining airworthiness certification. “We will build 1-2 demonstration operation stations in Guangzhou this year, and the future operation price will be about two to three times that of ordinary taxis,” Li said.
Liu Yanlin, a staff member of a global flying car large-scale intelligent manufacturing enterprise settled in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, stated that the company’s world’s first modern production line for flying cars has successfully completed trial production and plans to start mass production in the second half of 2026. Once put into full production, one aircraft can roll off the line every 30 minutes. Its “land aircraft carrier” flying car pioneered a vehicle-mounted automatic separation and combination mechanism, which can complete rotor storage and separation in 5 minutes. It has obtained an overseas special flight certificate for manned aerial vehicles and will enter the Middle East market in 2027, leading Asia in cumulative financing in the manned low-altitude flight field.
He Tianxing, vice president of a Guangzhou-based urban air mobility technology enterprise, revealed, “Our flagship model has obtained the world’s first full airworthiness certification for unmanned passenger-carrying eVTOL, completed multiple flights in 21 countries around the world, and will soon open low-altitude sightseeing experiences to Guangzhou citizens, with a total duration of about three and a half minutes and a ticket price equivalent to that of daily special cars. We also launched a long-range model to further expand intercity travel scenarios and help build a bay area low-altitude travel network.” He added that Guangzhou’s low-altitude economy boasts excellent application scenarios, suitable for commuting along the Pearl River and between Nansha, Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
From policy empowerment to scenario implementation, and from technological breakthroughs to mass production and operation, Guangzhou is taking the low-altitude economy as its wing to build a global highland for scientific and technological innovation. On this fertile land, more low-altitude application scenarios continue to emerge, and more core technologies achieve breakthroughs, injecting a steady stream of new quality productive forces into the high-quality development of the GBA and providing a replicable and promotable “Guangzhou Plan” for the national low-altitude economy development. As the integrated effect of “low-altitude +” becomes increasingly prominent, this trillion-yuan blue ocean is blooming rapidly, allowing technology to change life and make the future within reach.
