Industry Insight | Low-Altitude Economy Elevated to One of Six Pillar Industries, Western Theater Command Drones in Emergency Response, First Batch of Demonstration Bases Announced — Strategic Positioning, Practical Verification and Institutional Support Advance in Tandem

The State Council Information Office's "15th Five-Year Plan" press conference explicitly identifies the low-altitude economy as one of six emerging pillar industries, proposing the cultivation of 100 demonstration parks and 1,000 demonstration enterprises by 2035. The Western Theater Command Air Force deployed drones for three consecutive days to survey the debris-flow disaster area at Gyirong Port, successfully issuing an avalanche secondary-disaster warning. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the first batch of National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Bases, with 3 parks and 9 enterprises selected in the low-altitude equipment sector. The low-altitude economy advances simultaneously across three layers: strategic positioning, emergency-response practice and industrial policy support.

1. MIIT Explicitly Identifies Low-Altitude Economy as One of Six Emerging Pillar Industries, with National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Bases to Be Established During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period

On August 26, the State Council Information Office held a thematic press conference under the "Getting Off to a Strong Start in the 15th Five-Year Plan" series. Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, stated explicitly while introducing efforts to fully implement the 15th Five-Year Plan and accelerate new industrialization that China will accelerate the development of emerging pillar industries including integrated circuits, aerospace, biomedicine, the low-altitude economy, new energy storage and intelligent robotics, and promote future industries such as quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence and 6G to become new economic growth points.

Xin Guobin noted that the 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical phase for consolidating the foundation and making all-out efforts toward basically realizing socialist modernization. China will firmly anchor the goals and tasks of basically realizing new industrialization, pursue high-quality development as the theme, focus on developing new quality productive forces, take the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation as the pathway, and accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone.

Regarding industrial carrier construction, Yao Jun, Director-General of the Planning Department at MIIT, introduced at the press conference that National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Bases will be established, focusing on key emerging industry areas such as a new generation of information technology, new energy, new materials, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, robotics, biomedicine, high-end equipment and aerospace, to create a batch of benchmarks leading emerging industry development. By 2035, China aims to cultivate approximately 100 demonstration parks with radiating and driving effects in industrial cluster development, collaborative innovation, ecological optimization and governance improvement, and approximately 1,000 demonstration enterprises at a leading level in product development, technological innovation, business-format innovation and management efficiency.

Yao Jun also proposed "Four Priorities" for advancing emerging industry development: first, prioritize technological breakthroughs to accelerate the translation of innovation outcomes in emerging fields; second, prioritize carrier construction to accelerate the growth of key emerging-industry parks and enterprises; third, prioritize scenario cultivation to accelerate the large-scale application of new technologies, new products and new scenarios; fourth, prioritize ecological optimization to accelerate the aggregation of factor resources toward emerging industries.

National Bureau of Statistics data shows that in the first half of this year, the value-added of high-tech manufacturing grew 13.3% year-on-year, the fastest pace this year. Among them, the manufacturing of computers, communications and other electronic equipment grew 14.8% year-on-year, while the manufacturing of railway, ship, aerospace and other transportation equipment grew 12.6% year-on-year, laying a solid industrial foundation for the development of emerging pillar industries including the low-altitude economy.

The explicit listing of the low-altitude economy as one of six emerging pillar industries marks a critical leap in its industrial status from "emerging industry" to "emerging pillar industry." From the first mention of the low-altitude economy as a new growth engine in the 2024 Government Work Report, to its designation as an emerging industry in 2025, and then to its confirmation as an emerging pillar industry in the 2026 15th Five-Year Plan, the national strategic positioning of the low-altitude economy is being progressively elevated, entering a period of concentrated policy dividend release.

2. Western Theater Command Air Force Drones Rush to Aid Debris-Flow Disaster Area at Gyirong Port

At approximately 10:30 on August 26, a debris-flow disaster on the Nepalese side caused heavy casualties and missing persons at Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, Xigaze, Tibet. By 8:00 a.m. on the 27th, 2 people had been successfully rescued, 3 fatalities had been confirmed, and 558 people remained missing, including 260 foreign nationals.

Following the disaster, the Western Theater Command Air Force immediately activated its emergency rescue contingency plan, organizing transport aircraft, helicopters and drones to complete advance preparations. Affected by complex plateau weather conditions, the airspace over the disaster area remained unstable, initially precluding aerial flight operations. Following continuous monitoring and assessment by meteorological authorities, a short window of stable weather opened at approximately 8:00 p.m. Seizing the favorable meteorological conditions, the Western Theater Command Air Force immediately deployed drones to conduct disaster survey operations over the Gyirong Port disaster area.

Meanwhile, under instructions from the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Emergency Management, together with the Sichuan Communications Administration, urgently dispatched a Wing Loong emergency communications drone for cross-regional support, flying to the affected area to perform both communications support and frontline survey missions. The first mission was completed from approximately 6:00 p.m. on the 26th to 5:00 a.m. on the 27th.

Fire and rescue teams advanced into the core disaster area using a coordinated "water-land-air" approach, with over 680 firefighters participating in on-site rescue operations. Waterborne advances were made via inflatable boat formations, land advances were made on foot across mountainous terrain, and heavy-lift drones were used to airlift firefighters from the air.

On the morning of August 28, a Western Theater Command Air Force drone conducting disaster surveillance over the Gyirong Port area transmitted real-time imagery, detecting an avalanche on a snow mountain with an estimated 50,000 cubic meters of ice debris flowing into a barrier lake. On-duty personnel immediately coordinated with professional personnel at all levels for assessment, recommending an immediate warning alert. Upon receiving the intelligence, the forward command post promptly issued the warning, strengthened monitoring, and guided military and civilian authorities to prepare for emergency evacuation.

According to reports, the Western Theater Command Air Force has deployed drones for three consecutive days to conduct long-endurance, wide-area and close-range surveillance of the core disaster area, organized meteorological authorities to issue rolling weather forecasts and warnings, closely monitored the stability of barrier lakes and surrounding mountains, assessed secondary disaster risks, and distributed data on changes and damage to multiple barrier lakes, villages and surrounding roads, continuously providing scientific data support for disaster relief efforts at all levels. (Source: People's Daily Online)

From the emergency deployment on the 26th to the successful secondary-disaster warning on the 28th, the drones' all-weather surveillance capability, long-endurance continuous operation capability and real-time data transmission capability under complex plateau meteorological conditions have been verified in actual combat. Drones have become an indispensable key asset in the national major-disaster emergency rescue system.

3. MIIT Announces First Batch of National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Bases, with 3 Parks and 9 Enterprises Selected in Low-Altitude Equipment

On August 31, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the preliminary list of the first batch of National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Base creation candidates. The selection was conducted in accordance with the Work Plan for the Creation of National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Bases (MIIT Regulation [2025] No. 250), covering 10 fields: artificial intelligence, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, new energy storage manufacturing, clean and low-carbon hydrogen, biomanufacturing, intelligent robotics, low-altitude equipment, commercial aerospace, safety and emergency equipment, and software.

The list includes 21 demonstration parks and 112 demonstration enterprises. In the low-altitude equipment sector, a total of 3 demonstration parks and 9 demonstration enterprises were selected. Among the selected low-altitude equipment demonstration enterprises, Tengdun Technology, EHang Intelligent and Zonghang Aviation are private enterprises, while the remaining six are state-owned enterprises. All selected enterprises focus on the R&D and manufacturing of medium-to-large low-altitude aircraft.

The National Emerging Industry Development Demonstration Base is a national-level project organized by MIIT, aimed at focusing on key emerging industry areas, selecting a batch of industrial parks and enterprises with domestically leading capabilities, and 发挥 their demonstration, leading and radiating roles.

The listing of low-altitude equipment as one of ten creation fields, with 3 parks and 9 enterprises selected in the first batch, marks the formal entry of the low-altitude equipment industry into the top-level vision of national emerging industry cultivation, transitioning from "policy encouragement" to "institutional support."

Observation & Outlook

The three stories in this issue of Industry Insight form a complete logical chain of the low-altitude economy from national strategic positioning, through practical capability verification, to industrial policy support:

The State Council Information Office's 15th Five-Year Plan press conference explicitly listed the low-altitude economy as one of six emerging pillar industries — from the first mention of the low-altitude economy as a new growth engine in the 2024 Government Work Report, to its designation as an emerging industry in 2025, and then to its confirmation as an emerging pillar industry in 2026, the national strategic status of the low-altitude economy has achieved a "three-level leap," with policy and industrial resources accelerating toward this sector. The targets of six emerging pillar industries, 100 demonstration parks and 1,000 demonstration enterprises signify that the low-altitude economy has moved from a "concept cultivation period" into a "large-scale development period." The Western Theater Command drone deployment to Gyirong Port was a national-level practical verification — three days of continuous flight, complex plateau weather, and avalanche secondary-disaster warning fully demonstrated the irreplaceability of drones under extreme conditions of "cut-off roads, power and communications." Drones have evolved from "auxiliary surveillance tools" to "core assets of the emergency response system," becoming an indispensable key force in the national major-disaster emergency rescue system. The MIIT announcement of the first batch of low-altitude equipment demonstration bases represents institutional confirmation at the industrial level — with low-altitude equipment listed as one of ten creation fields and 3 parks plus 9 enterprises selected in the first batch, the low-altitude equipment industry has formally entered the top-level vision of national emerging industry cultivation, transitioning from "policy encouragement" to "institutional support."

The clearer the strategic positioning, the more directed the resource aggregation; the more sufficient the practical verification, the more recognized the equipment value; the more complete the institutional support, the stronger the development guarantee. From strategic positioning to emergency-response practice to industrial policy, the "value closed loop" of the low-altitude economy is accelerating into formation.

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