The white drone took off from a platform floating off Shanghai’s coast and zoomed out to sea, returning with a cargo hold full of fresh seafood.

The flights to islands 130 kilometers away have cut what used to be an overnight ferry journey down to three hours, meaning fish that previously had to be frozen can now reach restaurants with more of their flavor intact.

The service is popular among businesses with a “higher requirement for food quality,” said Sun Biao, a sales director of Phoenix Wings, whose drones have completed 800,000 flights across China.

Drone deliveries are a small slice of a nearly hundred-billion-dollar market taking off in China based on new aviation technology — also including small planes and helicopters — which is getting serious support from the central authorities.

China’s government wants what it calls the “low-altitude economy” — comprising commercial flights below 1,000 meters, in most cases — to become a new driver of consumer spending on services as traditional sectors like real estate struggle.

Thanks to loosening airspace restrictions, a growing number of Chinese companies are offering sightseeing and business trips in helicopters and small planes. Domestically-made drones spray crops with pesticides, take wedding photos, and hunt for mineral deposits.

The next step? After becoming world leaders in electric cars, Chinese companies are pioneering the development of electric flying vehicles.

China’s low-altitude economy reached revenues of 500 billion yuan ($70.8 billion) in 2023 and is projected to grow to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to China’s civil aviation administration.

The government hopes to replicate its EV success by creating a domestic supply chain for hi-tech aviation, ranging from materials to software for automated flights and safety.

For decades, Chinese airspace was tightly controlled, with approvals for private journeys difficult to obtain and the legal status of drone flights unclear. That has changed rapidly in the past year.

China’s aviation regulator last year released guidelines designating airspace under 300 meters, where drones typically operate, as “unrestricted,” meaning smaller drones would be permitted to fly with fewer restrictions, except in areas near airports.

That’s helping drive a boom in use of the craft — there were nearly 200,000 valid drone pilot licenses in China as of 2023, according to official statistics. Many are used in the countryside to spray pesticides and fertilizers, where the busiest drone pilots can earn over 300,000 yuan a year.

China’s central government raised the “low-altitude economy” concept in 2021, and it was named as a top economic priority in December. The majority of China’s regions featured the concept in their economic plans for this year.

The policy push is bearing fruit: The number of low-altitude aviation companies has increased by about a third in the past five years to 57,000, according to an institute affiliated with China’s industry ministry.

Larger drone operators still need official permission for flights, but authorities have introduced platforms to streamline the process. China’s aviation regulator has approved 17 testing zones and three experimental bases for unmanned aerial vehicles, some of which include major cities.

For deliveries, drones make sense where speed is urgent — for instance, carrying blood supplies to hospitals or urgent documents to executives — and where terrain is remote.

China has the world’s largest e-commerce sector, and according to SF Express, about 1% of China’s annual volume of 100 billion packages could be suitable for drone transport, requiring approximately 100 million flights.

In August, tech giant Meituan launched drone delivery services providing tourists in Beijing with food, heat-relief products, and emergency supplies at a section of the Great Wall. The city’s government wants to host 5,000 low-altitude aviation companies in the next three years.

For now, the focus is on reducing costs. Local governments are stepping in with subsidies, and increasing scale means companies can offer deliveries more cheaply. “This will allow consumers to enjoy the service at a lower price. With this collaborative approach, we can make the business model sustainable and work towards lower costs gradually,” said Sun of Phoenix Wings.

Another fast-growing area for low-altitude aviation is leisure and tourism, primarily driven by urban youth looking to escape the pressures of work and middle-aged parents seeking educational experiences for their children.

College student Kuai Sitong recently took her first sightseeing tour flight as an amateur pilot. Sitting in the cockpit, the 23-year-old shared the throttle and controls with a professional co-pilot.

Kuai chose to fly in the same aircraft model — a US-made Cirrus SR20 — as a popular TV character from the recent Chinese drama series “The Tale of Rose.” In the female-empowering show, the protagonist falls in love with aviation after a failed marriage.

The 23-year-old had similarly just ended a four-year on-and-off relationship. “It’s like I finally took the ‘wheel’ of my life,” she said after the flight. “For me, it’s more exciting than scary,” she added.

Kuai, who is also a winter sports enthusiast, told Sixth Tone she plans to take a helicopter-assisted skiing trip in the near future.

Shanghai-based Xinkong Helicopters launched a shuttle service in August between the city’s Pudong Airport and Kunshan, a city in neighboring Jiangsu province. The ride in a US-Canadian Bell 505 helicopter cuts a car or train journey of up to three hours to one hour, and costs 1,600-1,800 yuan per seat.

“Our main customer base consists of business travelers, and some of the economy-class passengers,” Li Yang, deputy manager of the company, told Sixth Tone.

The company also offers sightseeing helicopter tours. Shanghai resident Cao Cheng came across a video about one of the company’s trips on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which reminded him of a childhood dream of being a pilot.

Cao and his daughter took a 10-minute flight from the company’s private base in April. The fuel-powered helicopter flew them over Shanghai Disney Resort, giving passengers a bird’s-eye view of the fairytale kingdom.

“Seeing the landscape from above was amazing,” said Cao. “This was a very precious father-daughter time.”

China is still mainly reliant on imported helicopters and light planes, with local companies trying to catch up with global leaders like Airbus. There’s been some progress — state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China is leading the way with domestically-made helicopters and small planes.

But as with the automotive sector, it’s possible China might gain a lead over overseas rivals by “leapfrogging” today’s top aviation technology by shifting to electric power.

eVTOL: flying cars?

Chinese companies are rushing to develop electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for their potential to transport both passengers and cargo more sustainably, cheaply, and quietly than gas-guzzling helicopters. Thanks to lower costs, they could become an everyday mode of transport on par with cars.

Resembling a large drone with an added cockpit, eVTOLs take advantage of Chinese companies’ leadership in the technologies powering both drones and batteries.

“The difference between helicopters and eVTOL is similar to that between fuel cars and electric cars,” Yue Tingting, vice president of Chinese eVTOL startup Vertaxi, told Sixth Tone.

Despite being widely referred to as “flying electric cars,” “the application scenarios of eVTOL could be entirely new,” Yue said. “It will undoubtedly bring about a more profound revolution in the industry.”

Compared to traditional fuel helicopters, the vehicles can achieve 60% energy savings, 90% emission reduction, and 65% noise reduction, according to research by China Post Securities, a brokerage firm.

China’s eVTOL boom is centered in Guangdong, the tech-rich province bordering Hong Kong that includes China’s “drone capital” Shenzhen — home to industry leader DJI — where the local government has been supporting test flights.

Prosperity, an aircraft developed by Chinese company AutoFlight, in February became the first eVTOL to complete a cross-sea intercity flight between Shenzhen and Zhuhai, 70 kilometers southwest. The uncrewed flight covered a journey that would typically take two hours by car in 20 minutes.

The ticket price was set at around 300 yuan per seat, significantly cheaper than a typical urban helicopter flight.

Because comprehensive costs for building and running the craft can be just 15% that of helicopters, “the fees for short distance eVTOL trips are expected to be on par with that for ride-hailing services,” Yue said.

EHang, another startup based in Guangdong, last year became the first company to receive an airworthiness certificate from China’s aviation administration for an autonomous two passenger eVTOL.

The company revealed it has overseas pre-orders for more than 1,200 units and predicts that on-demand air taxis will be a common sight in about five years.

Technical challenges remain: eVTOL batteries need much higher energy density for longer and more demanding trips than cars, Zhou Lisha, CEO of Chinese battery startup Montavista, recently told local media.

Concerns about safety mean that years of tests will be needed before widespread commercialization. While the first experiments in regular commercial eVTOL use are scheduled for 2025, large-scale commercial applications aren’t expected to be commonplace until 2035, according to official guidelines on eco-friendly aviation manufacturing published last year.

Venture capital funds are pouring money into the area, with more than 85% of China’s low-altitude economy investment going towards eVTOL companies, according to a report by consultancy CCID Research Institute.

Four eVTOL companies including Aerofugia and Volant Aerotech received venture capital funding rounds worth hundreds of millions of yuan in the past year.

China’s largest EV companies are jumping into the aerial sector as well.

Xpeng Aeroht, the self-described “flying car” subsidiary of Xpeng, aims to begin mass production and deliveries of an eVTOL in 2026, selling for a maximum of 2 million yuan, the company announced this month. Its first public manned flight is set for the Zhuhai airshow in November.

Responding to safety concerns, China’s aviation administrator has proposed a guiding principle for aviation testing: “suburbs before cities, cargo before passengers, and isolation before integration.” That means companies should start with cargo flights to accumulate sufficient safe operating hours before gradually transitioning to passenger flights, it adds.

For the market to truly take off, consumers will need to become as enthusiastic about electric helicopter rides as investors currently are.

To help with that, aerial enthusiasts are trying to spread understanding about the service. Xie Lele, a content creator focusing on eVTOL technology, has gained a large following online for his videos.

By sharing his own experience with aircrafts, Xie said he wants to demystify eVTOLs and bring the concept of personal flight closer to reality. “I want people to understand that flying isn’t as distant as it seems. The future of aviation is within reach,” he said.

“I believe low-altitude flying represents the future.”

Editor: Tom Hancock.

(Header image: EHang’s eVTOL on a trail flight in Beijing, Sept. 13, 2024. Li Ran/Xinhua)