Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province in eastern China, has developed a broad low-altitude economy (LAE) industry base alongside other major Chinese cities, including Shenzhen. While Shenzhen usually gets the spotlight as China’s drone capital and low-altitude economy leader, Hefei has quietly built an extensive LAE ecosystem that rivals and, in some areas, surpasses the achievements of its more well-known counterpart.
Low Altitude Economy
Hong Kong has taken a major step toward establishing itself as a leading hub for the low-altitude economy (LAE) by introducing new regulations that allow drones to carry significantly heavier payloads. The Small Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Order 2025, which took effect on July 18, 2025, extends the regulatory framework to cover drones weighing up to 150 kilograms, a six-fold increase from the previous 25-kilogram limit.
The transformation of Shenzhen from a fishing village to China's technology capital has been well documented, but its latest shape shift into a significant force in the global low-altitude economy represents a major development in urban mobility. While cities across the globe work to understand and adapt China's integrated approach to three-dimensional urban mobility, Shenzhen's Qianhai special economic zone has established a leading position in demonstrating how strategic policy innovation, industrial clustering, and cross-border integration can accelerate the commercialization of low-altitude technologies.
China’s low-altitude economy (LAE), which covers airspace generally below 1,000 meters and extends up to 3,000–4,000 meters in select corridors, has moved from early trials to an essential part of urban and regional mobility. Today, drones carry out crop spraying, eVTOLs conduct daily test flights, and dedicated low-altitude flight corridors manage aircraft through crowded city skies. The executives profiled below write the rules, design the aircraft, secure the funding, and prove the business cases, whether for air taxis, drone deliveries, precision agriculture, or emergency response. Their work shows how coordinated action can turn low-altitude flight into a mainstream mode of transport.
On June 17, 2025, aviation regulators from five countries released a roadmap that could determine whether urban air mobility succeeds or fails. The National Aviation Authorities Network, comprising the US FAA, the UK CAA, Australia's CASA, Transport Canada, and New Zealand's CAA, has published its "Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification." This matters because the low-altitude economy faces a critical bottleneck. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft don't fit neatly into existing rules designed for helicopters and airplanes. The result? Every Western eVTOL company missed its 2024 certification targets.
- China's Leading eVTOL Aircraft Projects Drive Low Altitude Economy
- Drones Welcomed, eVTOLs Rejected: The Paradox of Chinese Aviation Tech in US Markets
- The Rise of the Low-Altitude Economy: 2025 Latest Developments and Future Outlook
- The Global Low-Altitude Economy, Q1 2025: Strategic Initiatives and Key Developments