At the 2026 Global Investor Conference hosted by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on May 28, Harry Shum, Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, delivered a keynote address. He stated that the low-altitude economy is set to become a new growth frontier for China's economy over the next five to ten years, with the long-term global market size potentially reaching $5 trillion.
The application scenarios for the low-altitude economy are becoming increasingly diverse, and commercial applications are already being widely deployed. Shum began by clarifying the core definition of the low-altitude economy: the industry generally defines airspace below 1,000 meters as low-altitude, and the new economic activities derived from various flight operations using low-altitude aircraft constitute the low-altitude economy. Distinct from high-altitude civil aviation transport and ground road traffic, the low-altitude economy fills the market gap in mid-to-low altitude transportation, offering substantial potential for economic growth.
In his view, the low-altitude economy is no longer a distant, cutting-edge concept; various practical applications have already entered daily life. Currently, drone formation performances are regularly held in major Chinese cities, and domestic drone companies have also expanded such cultural tourism services overseas, entering the global market. Drone-based instant delivery scenarios have also matured, with recent launches of drone food delivery routes in Hong Kong, such as the Tai Koo and Ma On Shan North routes, which pass through the Hong Kong Science Park to provide meal delivery services for employees. Data comparisons show that traditional courier delivery takes about an hour for a one-way trip, while drone delivery can reduce this to 15-20 minutes, with the industry's ultimate goal being 15-minute ultra-fast delivery. Additionally, large eVTOL aircraft have been deployed in industrial scenarios, capable of transporting critical supplies to offshore platforms, covering diverse essential areas such as industrial logistics and emergency transport.
The overseas expansion of leading domestic low-altitude economy companies is also accelerating. Companies like Meituan have already launched drone delivery services in regions such as Brazil and the Middle East, indicating the export of China's low-altitude economy commercialization models.
A complete industrial chain has clearly taken shape, covering the entire ecosystem from upstream to downstream. Shum outlined the complete industrial chain structure of the low-altitude economy. The entire industry revolves around low-altitude flight activities, with downstream sectors including various flight operations and air transport services, which are expected to be the primary profit-generating scenarios for the industry in the future. Upstream, there is the aircraft hardware supply chain, with the Shenzhen and Greater Bay Area serving as the global core manufacturing base for drones. Relying on leading companies like DJI, China leads the world in both production capacity and technology for consumer and industrial drones.
Simultaneously, the low-altitude economy relies on supporting flight assurance services, and full-domain flight operations require adaptation to diverse regulatory policies across regions, necessitating a sound legal and regulatory framework. Hardware manufacturing, flight services, and regulatory compliance together constitute the complete industrial ecosystem of the low-altitude economy.
From the perspective of industrial coverage, the low-altitude economy has already permeated the three major industries and public service sectors: the primary industry (agricultural plant protection), the secondary industry (industrial inspection), and the tertiary industry (instant delivery) all have large-scale applications. In the public service sector, its value continues to be prominent. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is currently collaborating with the Shenzhen Fire Department to explore scenarios such as drone involvement in high-rise building fire rescue and other emergency response situations, addressing gaps in urban emergency rescue capabilities.
Supported by a triple advantage, the low-altitude economy is entering a golden period of medium- to long-term development. Regarding the industry's development logic, which is of keen interest to the capital markets, Shum pointed out that from the "15th Five-Year Plan" to the "16th Five-Year Plan," the low-altitude economy will encounter definitive development opportunities over the next five to ten years, underpinned by three core favorable factors.
First, strong empowerment at the national strategic level. The low-altitude economy has been formally incorporated into the national "15th Five-Year Plan." The National Development and Reform Commission has established a dedicated department for low-altitude affairs to coordinate the development of the national low-altitude economy industry from the top-level design perspective, continuously breaking down industry policy barriers.
Second, underlying technologies are maturing. After five years of low-altitude system R&D practice in Shenzhen, coupled with the continuous iteration of supporting technologies such as communication, navigation, and airspace monitoring, the stability and safety of low-altitude flight have significantly improved, laying a solid technical foundation for large-scale operations.
Third, commercialization has entered a fast lane. Unlike the pure research and pilot phase, the commercial value of the low-altitude economy is now being realized: Meituan has deployed multiple drone food delivery routes in Shenzhen, SF Express has established intra-city and cross-city low-altitude logistics networks, and various major market players are entering the field. The industry is formally transitioning from pilot projects to commercial-scale operations.
At this stage, both domestic industrial capital and实体 enterprises have抢先布局 the low-altitude economy赛道, and the early-stage investment window for the industry has already opened.
Airspace management bottlenecks are prominent, with the "low-altitude brain" system addressing the pain points of scaling. Shum also directly addressed the core challenges for the industry's large-scale development. Drawing a comparison with existing aviation capacity, the current daily takeoffs and landings of civil aviation aircraft in Shenzhen are only around 2,000 flights, indicating a clear upper limit on transport capacity. For the low-altitude economy to truly unleash its economic value, the daily number of drone flights in a first-tier city needs to reach 1 million, with the number of aircraft simultaneously online in the airspace needing to exceed 100,000. In the future, low-altitude flight traffic in large cities will rival ground vehicle traffic.
Under the pressure of massive flight traffic, the industry faces four core challenges: how to share airspace resources among multiple companies, how to ensure the safety of a vast number of drones flying simultaneously, how to achieve large-scale operation of flight activities, and how to efficiently coordinate public flight services. To solve these problems, it is essential to rely on digital and artificial intelligence technologies to build a unified low-altitude digital infrastructure.
Based on five years of practice in Shenzhen, the team has developed the Smart Integrated Low-Altitude Infrastructure System (SILAS), with the SILASOS low-altitude operating system at its core. This system encompasses a four-layer architecture of data platform, system kernel, capability platform, and application services. It can perceive real-time flight information across the entire airspace while meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders, including government regulatory bodies, civil aviation authorities, and the military. It provides a one-stop solution for the four industry pain points: airspace resource allocation, flight safety management and control, large-scale flight coordination, and compatibility with diverse services.
Referring to Shenzhen's airspace flight heat map data, Shum stated that, based on actual operational data, Shenzhen has already become China's leading city in low-altitude economic development. In November 2025, the monthly number of drone flights in Shenzhen was substantial, with Longhua and Longgang being the core areas for low-altitude flights. The Bao'an area had fewer flight frequencies due to airport airspace control, and there were still a small number of unauthorized drone flights in the region, further highlighting the necessity of implementing a unified low-altitude management and control system. This locally developed low-altitude infrastructure is currently planned to gradually expand from Shenzhen nationwide and overseas.
Industry space outlook: The long-term market size is expected to reach $5 trillion. Concluding his speech, Shum made a forecast regarding the long-term market potential of the low-altitude economy based on the scale of the global transportation economy. Currently, the global high-altitude civil aviation market is valued at approximately $1 trillion, while the ground transportation market exceeds $9 trillion. According to the industry's positioning, the low-altitude economy lies between high-altitude civil aviation and ground transportation. Its long-term overall market size is expected to reach the average of these two sectors, amounting to around $5 trillion.
Shum indicated that, supported by the triple advantage of policy, technology, and commercialization, coupled with the continuous improvement of unified low-altitude digital infrastructure, the low-altitude economy is expected to become a new growth engine for China's real economy. Its long-term development potential warrants continued attention from the capital markets.