New innovations propel Guangdong's low-altitude economy to take off

In recent days, two major developments have taken place in Guangdong's low-altitude economy. On the product side, Guangzhou-based XPENG AERAOHT debuted the world's only new "species" of flying vehicles, representing a breakthrough in the field. On the application side, at the first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Low-Altitude Economy Seminar (Guangzhou), experts explored futuristic applications for low-altitude technologies.

This product debut offers a glimpse into the future of aerial vehicles while the futuristic visions set a direction for its development. The convergence of these efforts is expected to further accelerate the growth of Guangdong's low-altitude economy.

In recent years, the low-altitude economy, as a key player in emerging strategic industries, is gaining momentum, meeting the growing public demand for convenient lifestyles. Guangdong, China's top economic province, has been positioning itself in this sector for some time. The province has included low-altitude economy initiatives in its government work reports and launched the "Action Plan for High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy in Guangdong Province (2024-2026)," with a goal of exceeding 300 billion yuan in economic output by 2026. Several cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Huizhou have also introduced city-level policies to support the development of this sector.

On the corporate side, industry leaders like EHang and XAG in Guangdong are driving innovation across the entire supply chain, contributing to remarkable achievements. EHang, for example, is the world's only manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles with three key certifications (type certificate, airworthiness certificate, and production certificate). XAG, an agricultural drone company based in Guangzhou, made waves at the Agritechnica (the world's largest trade fair for agricultural machinery and equipment) in May, partnering with Thailand's CP Group to further promote automated farming equipment in Thailand.

However, as the low-altitude economy transitions from rapid growth to high-quality development, it faces challenges such as complex airspace management and insufficient safety and intelligence in handling dynamic environments. Looking ahead, industry experts are sharing insights on how to push the sector forward toward sustainable and high-quality development.

Xing Hanfa, Vice President of the Guangdong Innovation Science Research Institute, Executive Dean of the Beidou Research Institute at South China Normal University, and Chief Technical Advisor for Guangzhou Chenxing Future Aviation Technology, emphasized the role of spatiotemporal information in empowering the low-altitude economy. He suggested transforming the low-altitude airspace into a measurable, manageable, and usable spatiotemporal data environment. He also highlighted the importance of building a new type of infrastructure to support this, ensuring safe, intelligent, and efficient flight operations. Xing argued that an integrated approach to communication, navigation, and remote sensing will be key to ensuring safety, while advancements in spatiotemporal intelligence will enhance smart decision-making, therefore driving the sector toward high-quality growth.

Professor Cheng Chengqi, a member of the National Air Traffic Management Advisory Committee (NATMAC) and Director of the Aerospace Information Engineering Research Center at Peking University, called for the creation of a unified national spatiotemporal standard for low-altitude operations, as well as the establishment of a three-dimensional traffic signal system to regulate low-altitude transportation. These efforts would further support the development of the necessary infrastructure for low-altitude air traffic management.

Source : Lingnan on the Cloud

新物種亮相，廣東低空經濟蓄勢提速騰飛

近幾天，廣東低空經濟領域又有兩件大事發生：在產品端，廣州低空經濟領域的代表性企業小鵬匯天首秀了全球唯一的新“物種”；在應用端，首屆粵港澳大灣區低空經濟研討會（廣州）對低空經濟的應用場景進行了科學暢想。

硬核產品首秀，或讓我們提前窺見了未來飛行器的發展方向；應用場景暢想，則爲產品研發指明瞭發展方向。兩相結合，廣東低空經濟發展，有望迎來再次提速發展。

近年來，作爲戰略性新興產業的重要賽道，低空經濟正“加速起飛”，滿足人民對便捷生活的更多期待。作爲“經濟第一大省”，廣東在低空經濟的搶灘佈局也早已開始。目前，廣東已將低空經濟相關內容寫入政府工作報告，印發實施《廣東省推動低空經濟高質量發展行動方案（2024—2026年）》，並提出到2026年，廣東低空經濟規模將超過3000億元。廣州、深圳、珠海、惠州等地市也已印發出臺市級層面支持低空經濟發展政策。

而在企業端，廣東的億航智能、極飛科技等一衆龍頭企業也帶動着上下游產業鏈創下一個又一個“廣東成就”：億航智能是全球唯一擁有“三證合一”（即型號合格證、適航證、生產許可證）的無人駕駛航空器製造商；長期在廣州耕耘的農業植保無人機制造商極飛科技，也在今年5月與泰國正大集團聯手亮相漢諾威農機展，進一步推動農業無人化設備在泰國的應用與普及……

不過，目前低空經濟產業正在從高速增長轉向高質量發展，面臨着用空管理難、複雜環境安全性與智能化水平不足等挑戰。未來，低空經濟如何進一步實現高質量發展？企業和業內專家紛紛給出了自己的看法，助力低空經濟提速騰飛。

廣東創新科學研究院副院長、華南師範大學北斗研究院執行院長、廣州辰星未來航空科技首席技術顧問邢漢發提出時空信息賦能低空經濟這一觀點，將低空空域變成可定標、可量化、可計算、可管理、可利用的時空數據空間，並認爲發展時空數字底座這一新型基礎設施可以保障低空經濟“飛得起來”，發展通導遙一體化可以確保低空經濟“飛得放心”，發展時空智能技術，在智能決策支持下可以助力低空經濟“飛得聰明”，從而全面助力低空經濟實現高質量發展。

國家空管委專家諮詢委委員、北京大學空天信息工程研究中心主任程承旗教授認爲，應創建全國統一的低空時空標準、推動低空立體交通紅綠燈系統建設、推動低空立體交通紅綠燈基礎設施應用。

文、圖 ｜羊城晚報記者 李志文譯｜趙凡審｜林佳岱