A new low-altitude aviation company, CITIC Haihe Low-Altitude Technology (Hefei) Co., Ltd. (referred to as CITIC Haihe), was officially inaugurated in Baohe District on August 10, marking a shift into operational, entity-based collaboration between central and local governments for Hefei's low-altitude economy.

The company was jointly established by Hefei Guoxian Holding Co., Ltd. (referred to as Guoxian Holding) and CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co., Ltd. (referred to as CITIC Offshore). As the city's core low-altitude economy implementation platform, Guoxian Holding coordinates resource integration, strategic cooperation negotiations, and cross-city cargo trial flights across the entire chain.

With over 40 years of experience in general aviation, CITIC Offshore holds industry-leading advantages in aircraft maintenance, airspace safety management, and large-scale eVTOL commercial test flights. In September 2025, CITIC Offshore and the Hefei municipal government signed a strategic cooperation agreement, completing the world's first tonne-level eVTOL cross-city cargo maiden flight from Hefei to Huaining.

The newly established CITIC Haihe will pursue an integrated development path combining "cargo operations, digital technology, and comprehensive services." Its core focus will be on tonne-level eVTOL low-altitude feeder logistics, serving high-time-sensitivity transport demands within the Hefei metropolitan area. The company will expand routes to regions like the Yangtze River Delta, Sichuan, and Chongqing in phases. It will also develop a low-altitude intelligent dispatch system using flight data, providing digital solutions for the entire industry chain. Additional services will include drone training, urban emergency rescue, and low-altitude educational programs.

The project's implementation is expected to leverage the agglomeration effect of leading enterprises, attracting upstream and downstream companies in low-altitude operations, digital technology, and logistics support to Hefei. This will strengthen the complete "R&D-manufacturing-operations-services" low-altitude industry chain.

As a key representative of new quality productive forces, the low-altitude economy is a strategic emerging pillar industry targeted by the state. In recent years, Hefei has made low-altitude economy a crucial engine for developing new quality productive forces, accelerating the layout of the full industry chain ecosystem and actively exploring diverse application scenarios. To date, the city has gathered over 300 low-altitude economy enterprises and opened more than 260 routes for drone medical supply delivery, rail inspection, and food delivery, initially forming a localized industry ecosystem covering the entire chain from drone R&D, testing, and production to operations.