Industry Insight | Personnel Adjustment of Air Traffic Management Office, Accelerated Postal UAV Trials, Hainan’s Special Legislation — Governance System for Low-Altitude Economy Takes Shape

Mid-to-late June saw parallel progress for the low-altitude economy across three core dimensions: institutional personnel arrangement, industrial commercial application and local legislation. These milestones include the appointment of a new director to the CAAC Air Traffic Management Office, the State Post Bureau’s push for large-scale trials of unmanned delivery vehicles and UAVs in express logistics, and Hainan Provincial Government’s research on high-quality low-altitude economy development plus public consultation on the Hainan Free Trade Port Low-Altitude Economy Promotion Regulations. The national institutional framework for the sector is shifting from top-level design to on-the-ground implementation.

1. CAAC Air Traffic Management Office: New Director Assumes Office with Clarified Mandates

The Civil Aviation Administration of China has completed the leadership reshuffle of its Air Traffic Management Office (ATMO). Industry sources confirm Sun Shaohua has officially taken office as Director of the ATMO. Prior to this appointment, Sun served as Deputy Director of CAAC’s Operation Monitoring Center, with years of experience in civil aviation operation monitoring and collaborative decision-making.

As an internal functional department of CAAC, the Air Traffic Management Office oversees national civil aviation air traffic management and serves as a core authority safeguarding low-altitude flight safety. Its official core responsibilities as listed on CAAC’s website are as follows:

1.Formulate laws, regulations and technical standards

Draft, revise and supervise the enforcement of civil aviation air traffic management laws, rules, policies and technical specifications. The ATMO leads the formulation of low-altitude flight regulatory systems, covering key areas such as designated UAV flight zones and eVTOL route planning.

2.Manage airspace and flight slot resources

Draft policies for the allocation of flight slots and airspace capacity, and monitor their implementation. Airspace constitutes the core resource of the low-altitude economy, whose overall planning and distribution fall under the ATMO’s jurisdiction

3.Conduct safety audits and supervision inspections

Carry out safety audits of air traffic management institutions, guide the development of safety management systems across the national air traffic network, and oversee operational safety supervision.

4.Administer professional personnel qualifications

Manage certification for air traffic controllers, aeronautical information officers, aviation telecommunication specialists and aviation meteorology staff, and deliver professional training for air traffic supervisors.

5.Oversee facilities, equipment and radio spectrum

Issue operation permits for air traffic management infrastructure, plan and allocate civil aviation radio spectrum, grant radio station licenses for civil aircraft, and coordinate responses to major radio interference incidents.

The ATMO consists of five divisions: Air Traffic Control Division, General Affairs Division, Communication, Navigation and Surveillance Division (Radio Management Committee Office), Safety Division and Aviation Meteorology Division, each responsible for specialized daily work

The ATMO is the primary body responsible for formulating regulations and delivering regulatory oversight for low-altitude flight operations. Large-scale UAV logistics and commercial urban air mobility with eVTOLs both rely on the ATMO’s support in airspace administration, flight rules and communication navigation. With the new director in place, the institutionalization and enforcement of low-altitude flight regulations are expected to speed up significantly.

2. State Post Bureau: Accelerate Trials of Unmanned Vehicles & UAVs in Express Delivery

On June 18, the State Post Bureau held a Party Group meeting to review documents including the draft 15th Five-Year Plan for the Postal Industry.

The meeting explicitly called for deeper integration of big data, internet, artificial intelligence and other new technologies into postal and express delivery services, accelerating industry trials of unmanned ground vehicles and UAVs, alongside the rollout of smart dispatching and intelligent route optimization technologies.

This policy direction was first outlined in early 2026, when the State Post Bureau identified the release of special policies for unmanned delivery technology and expanded UAV pilot projects as annual priorities. The recent Party Group meeting reinforces and deepens this strategic focus.

UAV logistics stands as one of the most commercially viable low-altitude economy scenarios. As the competent authority for the postal sector, the State Post Bureau’s policy orientation directly shapes the pace of large-scale UAV logistics deployment. The meeting sends a clear signal: the postal and express delivery industry will become a major landing ground for low-altitude commercial applications.

In addition, the meeting stressed the cultivation of high-caliber talent teams to underpin high-quality industrial development.

3. Hainan: Simultaneous Advancement of Low-Altitude Economy Legislation & Industrial Planning

As China’s sole tropical island province, Hainan has made remarkable progress in building its low-altitude economy ecosystem.

3.1 Provincial Government Special Session on High-Quality Low-Altitude Economy Development

On June 13, Hainan Provincial Government convened a special working conference to advance the sector’s growth. The conference noted Hainan’s natural competitive edges: vast low-altitude airspace, unique tropical marine climate, abundant island cultural tourism resources, plus institutional advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port. The province boasts solid foundations, diverse application scenarios, broad market potential and proven early progress for low-altitude economy development.

Key tasks confirmed at the meeting:

·Strengthen policy support, refine infrastructure, and solicit enterprise feedback to improve the operability of new regulatory policies;

·Encourage market entities to participate in the construction and operation of low-altitude projects, driving coordinated agglomeration of upstream manufacturing and supporting industries;

·Expand and open up application scenarios covering cultural tourism, transportation and emergency response to realize seamless cross-sector coordination.

3.2 Public Consultation Launched for the Hainan Free Trade Port Low-Altitude Economy Promotion Regulations

On June 16, Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued a public consultation notice for the draft Hainan Free Trade Port Low-Altitude Economy Promotion Regulations, open for public feedback from June 16 to July 15. This marks a pivotal milestone for Hainan, which will soon operate its low-altitude economy under dedicated legal frameworks.

3.3Low-Altitude Economy Defined as a RMB 10-Billion Industrial Cluster in the 15th Five-Year Plan

The General Office of Hainan Provincial People’s Government released the 15th Five-Year Plan for High-Tech Industrial Development of Hainan Province, incorporating the low-altitude economy into the provincial “345X” high-tech industrial system and listing it as one of five key RMB 10-billion featured industrial clusters targeted for cultivation.

Hainan is pushing forward its low-altitude economy layout on all fronts, spanning top-tier planning, local legislation, commercial scenarios and industrial clusters. As a free trade port, Hainan holds unique advantages in low-altitude airspace reform and international air route opening, and its exploratory practices will serve as an important reference for nationwide low-altitude economy development.

Insights & Outlook

The three updates covered in this Industry Insight correspond to three foundational pillars of low-altitude economy governance:

Regulatory System: The appointment of a new ATMO director with clarified responsibilities strengthens the institutional framework for low-altitude flight at the organizational and personnel level. Clear governing bodies and enforcement capacity are prerequisites for translating written regulations into real-world practice.

Industrial Application: The State Post Bureau’s push for UAV delivery trials unlocks a large-scale commercial scenario for the low-altitude economy. Logistics distribution is among the most people-oriented and demand-driven low-altitude use cases.

Local Pilot Practice: Hainan’s integrated legislation and industrial planning deliver a replicable institutional model for regional low-altitude economy rollout. Leveraging free trade port policies and unique natural endowments, Hainan is pioneering a differentiated development pathway.

From central regulatory authorities to local pilot regions, and from top-tier governance frameworks to commercial industrial scenarios, the overall governance system for the low-altitude economy is maturing rapidly. Clear laws and standardized rules create stable conditions for the construction of low-altitude infrastructure and large-scale commercial operations.

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