The scale and level of the drone industry continue to improve
At the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition held in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, a large-scale intelligent cargo UAV developed by Chinese enterprises, Moby Dick Route W5000, was exhibited and attracted a lot of attention. This drone has a wingspan of over 20 meters, a payload capacity of 5 tons, and a commercial range of up to 2600 kilometers. It has great application value in logistics transportation and other fields in the future. This year's China Air Show also showcased a variety of unmanned aerial vehicle equipment used for carrying cargo, emergency response, inspection and other functions.
What is the current development situation of China's drone industry? Recently, the China Air Transport Association released the "2023-2024 China Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Development Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). According to the report, as of the end of August this year, the number of registered drones in China reached 1.987 million, an increase of 720000 from the end of 2023; A total of 220000 drone pilot licenses were issued, an increase of 13.9% from the end of 2023.
The report shows that China has been the world's largest exporter of civilian drones for many years, accounting for over 70% of global patent applications in the field of drones and becoming the world's largest source of technology. Especially in recent years, China's drone industry has made significant progress in various aspects such as industrial scale, technological innovation, policies and regulations, and market applications, becoming an important driving force for the development of the low altitude economy industry.
The scale is gradually expanding. According to relevant departments' statistics, by the end of 2023, there will be over 2300 civilian drone research and development enterprises in China, with over 1000 mass-produced drone products. In 2023, the scale of China's civilian drone industry will reach 117.43 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32%.
Technology accelerates innovation. Drones are deeply integrated with new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and digital twins, and the iteration of aircraft models is becoming faster and faster. The products related to drones include multi rotor, fixed wing drones, unmanned helicopters, ground stations, various types of pods, hangars, and backend information processing platforms. The full spectrum of product sequences and solutions is gradually forming.
Policies have been gradually improved. In recent years, multiple departments such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China have introduced measures to ensure policy coherence and improve laws and regulations in the production, operation, application, and innovation of unmanned aerial vehicles.
The scene is becoming increasingly popular. On the basis of mature applications in agriculture, forestry, crop protection, geographic surveying, police security, emergency monitoring, unmanned aerial vehicles are constantly developing new scenarios such as communication relay, meteorological detection, indoor flight, etc. In addition, eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) technology is becoming increasingly mature, and urban air traffic, short distance logistics transportation and other scenarios are accelerating towards commercial operation. From January to August this year, the cumulative flight hours of civilian drones in China reached 19.461 million, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%.
The development of low altitude economy is timely, and it is necessary to coordinate development and safety, and guard the bottom line of safety, "said Hu Zhenjiang, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Low altitude flight safety is a world-class problem." With the rapid growth of low altitude flight scale, only by building intelligent new infrastructure, intelligent guarantee system, and advanced regulatory system can we promote the realization of low altitude flight safety
The drone industry in our country is developing rapidly, but there are still some urgent challenges that need to be addressed. On the one hand, there are many types of drones, wide applications, and fast technological iteration, and there is a strong demand in various industries. On the other hand, the relevant technical standards are not yet perfect, and standardization construction cannot keep up with the pace of the industry. "Sun Weiguo, Director of the Drone Working Committee of the China Air Transport Association, suggested accelerating the formulation of technical standards in the drone field, improving the construction of drone group standard system, better ensuring product quality and safety, and promoting the healthy development of the industry.
