编者按：4月28日，中国人民大学重阳金融研究院宏观研究部副主任、副研究员申宇婧在中国日报发表英文文章表示，低空经济是未来五年关系到我国获取国际竞争力、形成国际竞争优势的关键产业。从空间资源开发、经济引擎培育到应用场景落地，低空经济正推动中国从陆地经济向三维立体经济转型，并在智能制造、人工智能、新基建等领域释放巨大潜力。现将中文译文及英文原文发布如下：（中文译文约2600字，预计阅读时间7分钟）

2023年12月，中央经济会议提出“打造生物制造、商业航天、低空经济等若干战略性新兴产业”，首次明确了低空经济的产业属性。2024年，低空经济被首次写入政府工作报告，提出“积极打造生物制造、商业航天、低空经济等新增长引擎”。2025年，低空经济被首次写入“十五五规划”，提到“加快新能源、新材料、航空航天、低空经济等战略性新兴产业集群发展。”可见，我国已经明确将低空经济作为战略性新兴产业，“十五五”期间，低空经济将得到大力发展。

低空经济作为战略性新兴产业，具备新空间拓展、新技术创新、新场景推广、新产业培育等多重“新”特点，发展潜力巨大。

一是空间资源开发潜力巨大。低空经济的发展意味着人类生产生活创造的价值空间将由陆地向天空延伸，由二维向三维转变，空间资源会同土地资源一样被开发利用，空间也有望成为新的生产要素。目前，我国空域管理以军航为主导，民航航路航线外的低空空域基本处于未利用状态。我国空域开放比例、通用航空飞行小时、基础设施建设密度等表征低空利用率的指标与美欧相比，存在一定的差距。美国是低空资源开发的全球典范。其空域管理体制成熟，除少数禁区、限制区外，绝大部分空域对通用航空开放，其通用航空年产值超过万亿美元，贡献了百万级别的就业岗位。随着我国政策的放开与空域管理体制的成熟，低空经济的空间资源存在被大量激发的潜能。

二是经济引擎开发潜力巨大。低空经济的产业链条长，产业融合效应明显，不仅是数字产业化，也是产业数字化的典型代表。依托人工智能、5G、边缘计算等技术，发展智能无人机、eVTOL（电动垂直起降飞行器）等新型航空器，形成低空经济产业链。这是数字产业化。同时低空经济也是产业数字化的重要突破点。农业数字化、服务业数字化、制造业数字化、物流运输效率革命都蕴含着巨大的发展契机。其中智能制造非常关键，今年是中国制造2025的完成年，也是制造强国战略第一步的收官之年。接下来，将继续沿着我国制造强国“三步走”战略规划前进，低空经济将是我国制造强国建设的重要支撑。2022年中国智能制造市场规模已超过5万亿元人民币，占制造业比重约为17%，与发达国家还有差距。提升智能制造在制造业中的占比超过20%，逐步达到30%的国际领先水平。低空经济场景将是中国智能制造升级的重要发力点。

三是应用场景落地潜力巨大。低空经济将数据采集的范围进行了空间上的大幅拓展，数据的传输互动增加了低空和地面的路径，通过无人机搭载传感器、摄像头等设备，实时采集地理信息、气象数据、交通流量等，数据来源更加立体、多元、丰富。在此基础之上，低空飞行器（无人机、eVTOL等）产生的海量多模态数据（气象、地形、交通流量）可通过人工智能实时分析，进行算法优化迭代，以更好地进行飞行线路优化和预警。同时，我国AI的普惠、开源模式，可以促进不同场景下不同业务需求的本地大模型构建，降低低空经济的发展门槛，促进低空经济的普惠化发展，低空经济有望成为AI落地的最前沿战场。

“十五五”期间是我国低空经济从“试点探索”迈向“全面深化”和“规模化商用”的关键攻坚期与爆发期。中国民航局数据显示，2030年低空经济产业整体规模有望达到2万亿元。这意味着“十五五”期间，低空经济将成为国民经济名副其实的新增长引擎。

一大批低空经济“新基建”建成。起降场（Vertiport）将像加油站、充电桩一样在核心城市、交通枢纽、景区、园区规划建设。“天空地一体化”的通信、导航、监视（CNS）、指挥网络等数据平台基本建成，实现飞行全过程的可感知、可监管、可追溯。“低空航路网络”基本建成并融入国家综合立体交通网。

一大批低空经济新场景涌现。随着空域资源的开发，低空经济将催生出大量超越传统思维和极具想象力的场景，解决目前物理空间限制下的一些作业难题。例如，搭建生命通道“高速路”，建立城市级 “器官移植无人机高速绿色通道” ，以最短直线距离、最高速度直飞目标医院。

一大批低空经济新产业形成。低空经济的产业链条更加完善， eVTOL、无人机等设备进入规模化生产阶段，形成具备国际竞争力的整机制造商，关键部件的国产化率进一步提升，形成低空经济自主可控、安全可靠的产业链体系。在一些细分领域，例如，低空+农林植保，低空+物流，低空+运输，低空+文旅，低空+消防，低空+救灾等可以预见的低空应用场景，将形成较为成熟的产业生态。

低空经济是未来五年关系到我国获取国际竞争力、形成国际竞争优势的关键产业。我国具备发展低空经济产业的诸多优势，先进的通信技术、完备的产业链、巨大的市场需求足以支撑我国低空经济实现“逆袭式”发展。可以预见，未来五年，我国将以低空经济为关键引擎，在航空航天领域迎来全面而长足的进步。

英文原文

Potential of low-altitude economy is flying high

For decades, China's economic growth has largely unfolded on land — across factory floors, highways and ports. Now the country is turning its gaze upward.

What was once empty airspace below commercial flight paths is the next frontier of industrial expansion.

The so-called "low-altitude economy" — encompassing drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), airborne data platforms and the infrastructure that supports them — is poised to become a pillar of China's next development cycle.

The political signal is unmistakable.

Since 2023, the concept has been elevated from policy discussion to national strategy, written into successive top-level planning documents as well as the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). In Beijing's industrial lexicon, such placement signals capital mobilization, regulatory reform and coordinated experimentation. In plain terms: the runway is being cleared.

The low-altitude economy is about transforming airspace into a factor of production.

Today, much of China's low-altitude airspace remains underutilized, historically managed with military priorities in mind.

Compared with the United States and Europe, China's proportion of open airspace, general aviation flight hours and density of supporting infrastructure remain relatively modest.

The US offers a useful benchmark. Its mature airspace management system allows general aviation access to the vast majority of airspace outside restricted zones.

General aviation is a major contributor to the US economy and supports a vast employment base. China is not seeking to replicate that model entirely, but the comparison underscores the scale of unrealized potential. As regulatory frameworks evolve and civil-military coordination improves, dormant airspace could become an arena of intense commercial activity.

Airspace alone does not generate growth. The true promise of the low-altitude economy lies in its position at the intersection of digitization and industrial upgrading.

It is both a product of digital industrialization and a catalyst for the digital transformation of traditional sectors.

On the one hand, technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity and edge computing are enabling a new generation of intelligent aircraft — from autonomous drones to passenger-grade eVTOLs. These platforms form the backbone of an emerging industrial chain that spans advanced materials, batteries, avionics, sensors and software systems.

On the other hand, low-altitude applications accelerate the digital upgrading of agriculture, logistics, manufacturing and services.

Precision crop monitoring, smart inspection of infrastructure, rapid last-mile delivery and real-time environmental surveillance are not futuristic scenarios; they are commercially viable use cases already taking shape.

This matters in the broader context of China's manufacturing strategy. As the country moves beyond the first stage of its manufacturing power road map, intelligent manufacturing has become a central priority.

Yet the transition toward higher-value, technology-intensive production remains incomplete.

Advancing to the next level will require application-rich environments where advanced equipment, digital systems and industrial software can be deployed, refined and scaled in real-world conditions.

Low-altitude scenarios offer precisely such platforms — practical arenas where intelligent manufacturing can be stress-tested, integrated and upgraded, accelerating China's shift toward more sophisticated, innovation-driven production.

Data is the connective tissue. Drones and eVTOLs equipped with sensors and imaging systems expand the spatial boundaries of data collection, generating high-frequency, multi-modal information on weather, terrain, traffic and infrastructure conditions. When analyzed in real time through AI algorithms, this data enables route optimization, risk prediction and adaptive control.

China's increasingly open and cost-efficient AI ecosystem lowers barriers for localized model development, allowing diverse industries to tailor solutions to specific operational needs. In that sense, the skies may become one of the most practical proving grounds for applied AI.

The next five years will be decisive. By 2030, the overall scale of the low-altitude economy could reach 2 trillion yuan ($290 billion). But headline figures are less important than structural change.

First, infrastructure will proliferate. Much as petrol stations and EV charging points came to define the infrastructure of modern mobility, vertiports will increasingly be woven into core cities, transport hubs, scenic destinations and industrial parks. Integrated communication, navigation and surveillance networks will link air and ground systems, enabling flights to be trackable, manageable and traceable throughout their life cycle.

A dedicated low-altitude route network will gradually be embedded within China's broader three-dimensional transportation grid.

Second, application scenarios will multiply. Once airspace constraints ease, imaginative solutions to long-standing logistical bottlenecks become feasible.

Consider medical emergencies: dedicated urban "green corridors" for organ transport could allow drones to fly the shortest possible route between hospitals, cutting precious minutes from transplant procedures. Similar logic applies to disaster relief, firefighting in high-rise environments, and rapid deployment in remote rural areas.

Third, industrial clusters will consolidate. As eVTOLs and advanced drones move from prototype to mass production, competitive original equipment manufacturers are likely to emerge. Domestic production of key components will increase, strengthening the resilience of supply chains.

In vertical segments such as low-altitude agriculture, logistics, tourism, emergency response and public safety, more mature ecosystems will take shape.

Skeptics may argue that enthusiasm is running ahead of commercial reality. That risk is real. Regulatory complexity, safety standards, public acceptance and cost structures will all shape the pace of adoption.

But China enters this race with distinct advantages: advanced telecommunications networks, a comprehensive industrial base and a vast domestic market willing to test new technologies at scale.

The low-altitude economy is not merely about flying machines. It represents a shift from land-bound expansion to vertical integration of space, data and industry.

If managed prudently, the next five years will see China convert underused airspace into a dynamic growth engine, reshaping not only its aviation sector but the architecture of its broader economy.