Establishing a sound regulatory system to promote high-quality development of low altitude economy
2025-05-06
The Third Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to improve policies and governance systems for promoting the development of strategic industries such as new generation information technology, artificial intelligence, aerospace, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, biomedicine, and quantum technology, and to guide the healthy and orderly development of emerging industries. Low altitude economy is a representative of new quality productivity, and government regulation is an important component of the governance system for low altitude economy, which is the basic guarantee for promoting the long-term high-quality development of low altitude economy. The low altitude economy has the technical and economic characteristics of "small, lightweight, high-frequency, high-density, and flexible takeoff and landing", which determines the need to build a low altitude economic regulatory system that is in line with the development characteristics of the low altitude economy and in line with China's national conditions. Establishing an effective government regulatory system to solidify the foundation of low altitude economic development. The core of low altitude economy is to form a large-scale digital, intelligent, and green new transportation system in the airspace below 3000 meters, including important components such as low altitude route design and development, low altitude aircraft research and development, low altitude flight infrastructure construction and management, low altitude flight comprehensive service provision, and the development of derivative business models based on low altitude flight. The low altitude economy is accelerating its takeoff, and the regulatory system must be built synchronously and planned ahead. As a brand new transportation system, expanding from two-dimensional ground to three-dimensional sky, all order and interests must be built from scratch. It is necessary to strictly adhere to the bottom line of "flight safety" from the beginning and establish an effective government regulatory system. This is not only a solid foundation for the high-quality development of low altitude economy, but also a prerequisite. We can understand and grasp the urgency of building a government regulatory system for low altitude economy from four aspects. From the perspective of the relationship between government regulation and the high-quality development of the low altitude economy, as a new economic subsystem with broad development prospects, the low altitude economy should grasp the dialectical relationship between regulation and development. The purpose of government regulation is to promote the high-quality development of the low altitude economy, and it is extremely necessary to establish an industrial development awareness of "developing in regulation" throughout society. Secondly, from the perspective of the resource foundation for the development of low altitude economy, the development of low altitude economy is based on the development of airspace resources below 3000 meters. The degree of airspace openness and management level directly determine the potential for the development of low altitude economy, and effectively releasing the potential for low altitude economy development depends on improving the efficiency of airspace supervision. Thirdly, from the perspective of ensuring the "flight safety" operation of low altitude economy, the planning and development of low altitude routes, design of flight rules, approval of flight applications, research and development, manufacturing, and commercial operation of low altitude aircraft with flight safety guarantees, infrastructure construction and comprehensive service provision for low altitude flight, and many other aspects all require the government to formulate systematic and scientific regulatory policies. Fourthly, from the perspective of the derivative risks of low altitude flight, with the expansion of low altitude economic scenarios such as low altitude travel, logistics, cruising, photography, and tourism, and the significant increase in market penetration, risks related to data security and privacy protection will inevitably arise, which need to be regulated by relevant regulatory policies formulated by government departments. The construction of a government regulatory system for low altitude economy requires full consideration of its uniqueness, mainly reflected in the following aspects. Quick responsiveness. Low altitude economy is based on low altitude flight, and flight safety is the bottom line requirement. The regulation of low altitude economy with high-frequency flight characteristics requires the establishment of a fast and effective emergency response mechanism and accident handling procedures to deal with possible flight accidents and safety incidents. Technological integration. Low altitude economy involves the integration of technologies from multiple fields such as aircraft, artificial intelligence, communication technology, meteorological technology, power batteries, and air navigation. Regulation needs to consider the comprehensive application and mutual influence of technologies. At the same time, with the development of new technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, low altitude economic regulation needs to constantly adapt to the new challenges and opportunities brought by technological progress. Diversity of application scenarios. The low altitude economy has a wide range of application scenarios, including agricultural crop protection, power inspection, logistics distribution, urban transportation, etc. The regulatory requirements and standards vary in different scenarios. The complexity of security risks. There are various safety risk factors involved in low altitude flight activities, including aviation safety, public safety, privacy protection, environmental safety, etc. Regulatory authorities need to comprehensively consider these risk factors. For example, the digital and intelligent characteristics of low altitude economy require regulators to pay attention to data security and personal privacy protection. At the same time, low altitude aircraft may have an impact on the environment, such as noise and light pollution, and regulators need to consider environmental safety requirements. The five support points for the construction of the government regulatory system for low altitude economy are based on the technical and economic characteristics of low altitude economy and the specific national conditions of China. The government regulatory system for high-quality development of low altitude economy needs to establish five support points. Firstly, strengthen conceptual innovation and accelerate the establishment of a standardized and incentive based new regulatory system. At present, there is a lot of discussion in various sectors of society about the policy of incentivizing the development of low altitude economy, while the discussion on government regulation mainly focuses on the management of low altitude airspace, lacking a systematic and comprehensive understanding and grasp. Regulation is simply understood as "management" and "control", and it is urgent to correct, correct, release ideas, unify understanding, and create a good cognitive environment for the development of low altitude economy. Scientifically grasp the positioning, types, and methods of government regulation, coordinate incentive based promotion based regulation and bottom line based normative regulation, explore the establishment of a new regulatory system that is based on norms and guided by incentives, and is adapted to the laws and characteristics of low altitude economic development, avoiding a simple "one size fits all" approach and falling into contraction based restrictive regulation, which may hinder the healthy and sustainable development of low altitude economy. Secondly, strengthen multi-party collaboration and further deepen the reform of low altitude airspace management. At present, the country has opened up the airspace below 300 meters except for the no fly zone, and the reform of airspace management has taken solid steps, releasing productivity for the development of low altitude economy. But in the foreseeable future, with the expansion of low altitude economic derivatives, the demand for higher altitude, longer distance, and more frequent low altitude flights will inevitably grow rapidly, which will put forward more demands for low altitude airspace. Therefore, it is urgent to further efficiently promote the reform of airspace classification and low altitude airspace management on the basis of deepening reform pilot projects, significantly increase the number of low altitude flyable airspace, establish a central local collaborative and departmental collaborative airspace management mechanism in various provinces across the country, and achieve "one-stop" approval services for flight plans. Thirdly, strengthen the empowerment of digital intelligence and explore the establishment of a unified national digital intelligent low altitude flight dispatch and supervision platform. With the increasing penetration of low altitude economy in areas such as travel, logistics, tourism, and aerial photography, the frequency of regular urban air flights will remain above 100000 per day in the future. To manage such high frequency low altitude flights, it is necessary to establish a highly intelligent low altitude economic flight scheduling and supervision platform based on big data, which is vertically unified at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, integrating communication systems, monitoring information, countermeasures, and scheduling functions. Firstly, transform the low altitude airspace into a scalable, quantifiable, computable, manageable, and utilizable spatiotemporal data space to achieve real-time 3D information modeling. Secondly, it is necessary to establish a unified national data collection standard for low altitude aircraft and flight trajectories as soon as possible, and based on this, establish a unified flight control platform covering four levels: national, provincial, municipal, and county. Once again, based on big data mining, develop intelligent modules to enhance the intelligence and accuracy of low altitude flight application approval, scheduling and control, and effectively improve operational management efficiency. At the same time, in terms of construction path, it is recommended to follow the steps of pilot first and from point to surface, and comprehensively select areas with good digital infrastructure and low altitude economic development foundation to explore the construction path and mode first, and gradually cover all parts of the country after the path is explored and the conditions are mature. At the same time, we encourage and support various regions to actively build a low altitude economic digital dispatch and supervision platform, with flight subject supervision, flight activity monitoring, and illegal flight countermeasures as the core scenarios, to create a "one network unified management" intelligent dispatch platform covering flight plan application and approval, route planning, allocation and correction, illegal aircraft identification, warning and disposal, and other businesses. Fourth, strengthen the support of leading companies and accelerate the formulation of airworthiness standards and operational rules for low altitude aircraft. At present, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) are highly anticipated by the industry due to their suitability for low altitude travel. Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft can only enter commercial operation after passing airworthiness certification (including obtaining type certificate and production license) and applying for aviation operator operation certificate. However, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are still a new thing, and airworthiness standards and operating regulations are almost blank worldwide. It is suggested to leverage the technical support role of industry leaders such as Yihang Intelligence, establish a low altitude aircraft industry association and sub sector branches, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China should take the lead and collaborate with industry associations to develop a unified system of low altitude aircraft airworthiness standards and operating rules, in order to reduce policy uncertainty and stabilize industry development expectations. Fifth, strengthen environmental protection and enhance the construction and supervision of the operating environment for low altitude economy. Low altitude economy is a brand new economic subsystem, and its high-quality development needs to be based on a high standard operating environment. Specifically, one is to start the construction of takeoff and landing points for low altitude aircraft as soon as possible. Low altitude aircraft takeoff and landing points should cover levels such as residents, buildings, residential areas, streets, and districts. Relevant departments should develop unified construction and operation standards, and local governments at all levels should entrust urban investment companies and other operating entities to construct and manage them. The second is to improve relevant laws and regulations for the development of low altitude economy. For example, corresponding laws and regulations should be formulated as soon as possible to address issues such as data security and privacy protection that may be involved in low altitude economy. Thirdly, we will take the lead in gradually building a low altitude flight service system. Select small and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles as the main body for ultra-low altitude (below 600 meters) flight as the first pilot, expand outward from mature police aviation and large-scale government aviation applications, create a safe and reliable low altitude service system, and gradually integrate into the civilian low altitude flight service market. Fourthly, we will increase the mining and development of meteorological and geospatial data to support the safety of low altitude flights. Low altitude flight involves complex environmental factors such as meteorological conditions, topography, and building height. Data mining and development in these fields are essential for ensuring the safety of low altitude flight. Collaboration among meteorological, land, and housing departments should be strengthened, and relevant data should be collected and standardized before being integrated into the flight control platform. The fifth is to strengthen the supervision of bulk manufacturing and flight of "time traveling aircraft". Relevant departments shall investigate the overall situation of the upstream and downstream industrial chain of the "time traveling machine" assembly, establish relevant assembly access standards and product specifications, and clarify the principles of punishment for the consequences of related behaviors. (Jintong Du Weijie, author: Professor at the "Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics China Government Regulation and Public Policy Research Institute", a new key professional think tank in Zhejiang Province; Senior Economist at Zhejiang Provincial Economic Information Center. This article is a phased achievement of the National Social Science Fund's key project "Research on the Design and Implementation Path of Government Supervision System in the Development of Low altitude Economy" (by Xinhua News Agency)
Edit:He Chuanning Responsible editor:Su Suiyue
Source:Economic Information Daily
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