China's registered civil UAVs on the rise, industry alliance says

BEIJING - China's number of registered civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has exceeded 1.7 million, the Low-Altitude Industry Alliance (LAIA) said at its annual work conference on Monday.

These drones flew more than 19.46 million hours in the first eight months of 2024, up 15.6 percent year-on-year, according to LAIA, a nonprofit organization guided by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The application of general aviation aircraft, represented here by drones, continues to expand in areas such as logistics delivery, agricultural guidance and meteorological exploration, the meeting said. The scale of China's drone industry is also expanding continuously, becoming a significant force in promoting the development of the low-altitude economy.

The scale of China's low-altitude economy is estimated to be more than 670 billion yuan ($93 billion) in 2024, with projections for 2026 exceeding 1 trillion yuan, according to data from CCID Consulting.

This year, the term "low-altitude economy" was included in the Chinese government work report for the first time. China will develop its general aviation and low-altitude economy, according to a key resolution adopted during the third plenum of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee in July.