Central Enterprises Advance Low-Altitude Economy as Market Reaches RMB1.5 Trillion but Core-Part Localization

In 2026, a special meeting on the development of the low-altitude economy industry for central enterprises was held. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission incorporated the low-altitude economy into the Central Enterprises Industrial Renewal Action and called for intensified efforts in key core technologies, further opening of application scenarios, and joint cultivation of new low-altitude consumption business formats with upstream and downstream industry chains.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, as of the end of 2025, the market size of China's entire low-altitude economy industry chain reached RMB1.5 trillion, with a total of 3.287 million registered drones across the industry.

The low-altitude economy has formed a complete industrial chain covering core components and support systems, equipment manufacturing and supporting services, logistics and distribution, cultural tourism consumption, agricultural and forestry plant protection, emergency rescue, and urban governance. Regional progress shows that Shenzhen is accelerating deployment in low-altitude logistics, urban inspection, and medical transport; Hefei and Wuhu in Anhui are coordinating airframe manufacturing, flight-test verification, and application demonstration; and Sichuan is exploring emergency rescue, agricultural and forestry plant protection, and plateau delivery. The low-altitude economy is moving from single-point trials to regional coordination, and from equipment manufacturing to integrated development of manufacturing, operations, and services.

In terms of industrial-chain resilience, the overall localization rate of core components for China's low-altitude aircraft is below 30%, while dependence on foreign high-performance aviation motors and electronic control systems exceeds 70%.