The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council has incorporated the low-altitude economy into the Industrial Revitalization Action for Central Enterprises at the 2026 special promotion meeting on the development of the low-altitude economy industry. The meeting required central state-owned enterprises to strengthen breakthroughs in key core technologies, further open up application scenarios, and jointly cultivate new low-altitude consumption formats with upstream and downstream players in the industrial chain.

According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, by the end of 2025, the total market size of China's low-altitude economy across the entire industrial chain reached 1.5 trillion yuan, with a total of 3.287 million registered drones across the industry. China's low-altitude economy is at a critical stage characterized by increased policy support, expanding application scenarios, and rapidly growing industrial scale, showing a booming development trend.

This development trend is reflected in the accelerating improvement of the industrial chain and the continuous implementation of local application scenarios. Currently, the low-altitude economy has formed a complete industrial chain covering core components and support systems, equipment manufacturing and supporting services, logistics and distribution, cultural tourism, agricultural and forestry plant protection, emergency rescue, and urban governance. Looking at regional progress, Shenzhen is accelerating the deployment of low-altitude logistics, urban inspection, and medical transport scenarios. Hefei and Wuhu in Anhui Province are driving the synergy of aircraft manufacturing, test flight verification, and application demonstration. Sichuan Province is exploring applications in emergency rescue, agricultural and forestry plant protection, and plateau distribution. The low-altitude economy is moving from isolated pilot projects to regional coordination, and from equipment manufacturing to an integrated model of "manufacturing, operations, and services."

While the momentum is strong, the resilience of the industrial chain deserves more attention. On one hand, the overall domestic production rate of core components for low-altitude aircraft in China is less than 30%, with dependence on foreign sources for key links such as high-performance aviation motors and electronic control systems exceeding 70%. On the other hand, the low-altitude economy involves the coordination of multiple links including manufacturing, airworthiness, airspace, data, operations, and insurance. Currently, cross-departmental coordination, key component verification, scenario-based demand conversion, and service guarantee capabilities have not fully kept pace with the speed of industrial expansion. Local weaknesses can easily be amplified into systemic risks along the supply chain.

Therefore, the development of China's low-altitude economy must not follow the old path of "develop first, manage later." It must insist on advancing industrial development and strengthening supply chain resilience simultaneously. Strengthening overall coordination and resolutely implementing requirements is essential. Relevant departments should, based on the low-altitude economy coordination mechanism, establish special topics on industrial supply chain resilience, forming a regular consultation, list-based promotion, and risk warning mechanism. It is necessary to simultaneously sort out industrial chain and supply chain risks, airspace resources, and scenario demands, and dynamically monitor key enterprises, core components, critical routes, and potential bottlenecks. For major projects like low-altitude industrial parks, explore conducting resilience reviews before project initiation, tracking assessments during operation, and post-operation reviews, incorporating key component sources, airworthiness verification, and data security into project feasibility studies and scenario opening conditions.

Strengthening the chain and filling gaps is crucial to consolidate aviation product capabilities. Relevant departments should, guided by aircraft manufacturer orders, airworthiness certification requirements, and real operational data, focus on identifying weaknesses in areas such as flight control systems, aviation power systems, power batteries and management systems, main control chips, and high-precision sensors. Leveraging the existing industrial base in new energy vehicles, electronic information, and new materials, the goal is to accelerate the transformation of mature manufacturing capabilities into aviation-grade product capabilities. Key areas to address include strengthening verification in areas such as electromagnetic compatibility, complex weather conditions, long-duration operations, thermal runaway protection, and software upgrades, while improving capabilities in airworthiness certification, test verification, maintenance support, and quality traceability.

Implementing practical application scenarios and improving service guarantees are also necessary. The focus should shift from quantity to quality, prioritizing scenarios with stable demand, controllable risks, and clear payment boundaries, such as medical supply distribution, emergency rescue, and agricultural and forestry plant protection. For scenarios with strong public service attributes, adopt methods like government procurement of services to create stable demand. For market-oriented scenarios, define charging rules, safety responsibilities, and exit mechanisms. Enhance the risk-resistance capability of the entire chain by promoting the orderly connection of the national comprehensive supervision service platform with local low-altitude service platforms. Gradually achieve one-window acceptance of flight plans, one-network sharing of dynamic information, and closed-loop handling of abnormal events. For cross-regional scenarios like low-altitude logistics and medical transport, first establish a route coordination mechanism between neighboring cities and medical institutions. Integrate insurance and finance into the entire process of planning and construction, test verification, scenario operation, and safety supervision.