Pengzhou city in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has been driving the low-altitude economy to new heights through innovative measures. Data shows the output value of the city’s low-altitude economy surged from 161 million yuan ($22.41 million) in 2023 to 275 million yuan last year.
The city’s Guihua town is home to the "Sky Eye" unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight testing base, a national civil UAV testing base. Currently, "Sky Eye" boasts 10 test-flight locations and 19 application scenarios, making it the largest of 20 national testing bases in terms of quantity in China. It has attracted 145 enterprises and research institutions.
"Sky Eye" has pioneered airspace reform nationwide, seeing a significant transition for airspace management from an "approval system" to a "notification system" in China. This has simplified the approval process for drone flights from seven working days of prior approval to simply reporting 30 minutes before takeoff.
①: A food delivery drone takes off in Pengzhou city, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. (People’s Daily Overseas Edition/Song Haoxin)
②: Photo shows the "Sky Eye" unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight testing base in Pengzhou city, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. (People’s Daily Overseas Edition/Song Haoxin)
③: A small plane for low-altitude tourism takes off in Pengzhou city, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. (People’s Daily Overseas Edition/Song Haoxin)
④: Photo shows the aviation power town in Lichun town, Pengzhou city, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. (People’s Daily Overseas Edition/Song Haoxin)
Thanks to this move, the average daily flight volume at the base exceeds 200, with the utilization efficiency of airspace improving more than fivefold.
Leveraging the presence of drone-related enterprises at the base, Pengzhou has built an integrated low-altitude airspace management platform that combines reconnaissance, identification, and countermeasures. The target identification rate now exceeds 95 percent, providing efficient and secure flight support for resident companies.
Among the enterprises based at "Sky Eye" is Shenzhen Naijie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., which has developed multi-spectral electro-optical tracking products. The products integrate multi-spectral imaging with intelligent recognition technology, enabling 24/7 monitoring of low-slow-small targets such as drones within a 3-5 kilometer radius. The products are suitable for scenarios like urban security and major events, and have performed well in high-profile applications, including the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In recent years, Pengzhou has adopted a coordinated development model, expanding from drone testing and flight services into the broader drone manufacturing industry chain.
With support from leading enterprises, the city has established an industrial system encompassing aviation power, additive manufacturing, and high-end remanufacturing. It has also incubated a project for developing and producing small turbofan engines with a thrust of 160kg, achieving domestic substitution of drone power systems.
Pengzhou has partnered with Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment Group Co., Ltd. to establish western China’s first low-altitude economy development fund, with a total scale of 3 billion yuan.
The city has also built China’s first "4S store" for drones. Similar to traditional automobile 4S stores, it provides services including drone sales, maintenance, parts and information. In addition, it offers supplementary services such as drone insurance, public education and forum activities. A total of 32 drone-related companies have signed agreements to set up operations within the "4S store," bringing together over 100 pieces of advanced equipment.
Meanwhile, Pengzhou has built southwestern China’s first batch of drone flight schools. Through partnerships with the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Civil Aviation Flight University of China, it has established practical training platforms that have trained over 3,000 professional personnel.
In Pengzhou, drones have been applied in diverse scenarios such as logistics delivery, emergency rescue, equipment inspection, government services, and police services.
The city has deployed 50 low-altitude logistics nodes in mountainous areas, using drones to build a three-tiered logistics network spanning main urban area, hub towns, and administrative villages. Since January 2024, cumulative drone delivery flights have exceeded 6,000.
As drones continue to demonstrate more potential, Pengzhou will keep expanding their application scenarios and vigorously developing the low-altitude economy, said an official from the city’s low-altitude economy office.
Looking ahead, with the completion of an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) comprehensive testing center and the continued expansion of drone applications, Pengzhou aims to further advance the large-scale, systematic development of the low-altitude economy while building a modern low-altitude industrial system, the official added.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0609/c90000-20325055.html