Looking up at the starry sky reveals the future. The aerospace industry, represented by commercial space and the low-altitude economy, is becoming a key track for developing new quality productive forces. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, grounded in national strategy and the capital's resource endowments, has assigned Hohhot the development positioning of a low-altitude economy demonstration zone. Hohhot is seizing the momentum, riding the trend, and concentrating efforts on developing the low-altitude economy and commercial space, striving to shift lanes and lead the race on this new track.
In the autumn of Qingcheng, the low-altitude economy industrial park at the Hohhot Aerospace Economic Development Zone is bustling with activity. The Phase II project of Inner Mongolia Kuailun Technology's Future Transportation and Low-Altitude Equipment Intelligent Manufacturing Base is under accelerated construction, with workers working against the clock and using wall charts to press forward, sprinting toward the launch of the region's first fully automated general-purpose drone production line. Ji Guoxin, General Manager of Inner Mongolia Kuailun Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Kuailun Technology), introduced that the Phase II project closely follows the autonomous region's strategic emerging industry layout and plans three core production lines. The general-purpose drone production line covers key processes including fuselage assembly, flight control debugging, and complete vehicle testing, achieving fully automated assembly-line operations from components to finished products. The smart helmet production line focuses on sensing and safety protection. The single-Beidou positioning module production line builds high-precision localized core component supply capacity. The three production lines form a three-dimensional manufacturing system of "complete vehicle plus terminal plus core module." Once the project is completed, it will launch the autonomous region's first fully automated general-purpose drone production line, filling the gap in large-scale manufacturing of core low-altitude economy equipment and driving the clustering of intelligent mobility and Beidou navigation-related industries.
Kuailun Technology is adjacent to the Shaliang China-Europe freight train distribution center at the International Land Port, and combined with the locational advantages of the China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone, it is focusing on developing domestic and international authorized businesses to build an economic dual-circulation and enterprise dual-track operating model. Kuailun Technology is a microcosm of Hohhot's low-altitude economy. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the low-altitude economy industrial park officially began operations, Hohhot was approved as one of the first batch of Beidou large-scale application pilot cities nationwide, and the region's first aerospace economic development zone started operating, gathering a number of related enterprises such as Lanyi Low-Altitude and Yihang Technology. In 2025, the Inner Mongolia Low-Altitude Economy Innovation Center, the Beidou Gaofen Industry Research Institute, and the region's first low-altitude economy municipal industry-education consortium were established. Projects including Zhongyi Low-Altitude and Hive Low-Altitude Phase I were completed and put into production. In 2026, Hohhot will welcome a concentrated period of low-altitude economy project implementations. Projects such as Hive Low-Altitude Phase II will be completed and put into production, the low-altitude flight regulatory service platform will be accelerated, and projects including the Baita Aerospace Industry Base and the Inner Mongolia Electric Power Aviation Inspection Center will break ground. The city will promote the implementation of drone manufacturing projects such as Feiruide and Digital Eagle, develop more than five application scenarios including scenic area sightseeing and agricultural plant protection, build a "space plus green plus cultural tourism" development model, strive to implement key projects such as "commercial space test and verification services," and form a development chain of "core resources plus industrial clustering plus ecosystem building."
Today, the low-altitude economy is becoming a new driving force for Hohhot's high-quality development, moving from "takeoff" to "soaring high." Industrial takeoff cannot be achieved without innovation empowerment. On March 24, the Low-Altitude Economy Inner Mongolia Academician Workstation was inaugurated and began operations. As the region's first low-altitude economy academician workstation, it will focus on key application scenarios in the low-altitude economy, with priority given to tackling technical challenges in areas such as smart agricultural operations and low-altitude traffic safety, accelerating the local transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and helping to break through bottleneck technologies in low-altitude detection and flight control. "The workstation will collaborate with research institutes and enterprises in Hohhot to build an innovation platform with deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application, and promote the clustering of innovation resources toward the industrial frontline," said a relevant person in charge of the workstation. At the same time, it will unleash the radiating effect of academician resources, promote precise docking between local enterprises and leading resources in the aerospace industry chain, introduce upstream and downstream enterprises in aircraft parts manufacturing and low-altitude traffic scheduling system development, and build a full-chain industrial ecosystem of "low-altitude manufacturing, flight services, and safety assurance."
Policy support and planning guidance are in place. At the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region level, a series of supportive policies have been introduced successively, including several measures on supporting the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy, a three-year action plan, an implementation plan for promoting the integrated development of the airport economy and low-altitude economy, and management measures for special funds for civil aviation development. There is a commercial space and low-altitude economy sub-fund under the autonomous region's guiding fund for cultivating key industries, with a total scale of 1 billion yuan. At the Hohhot municipal level, a detailed action plan has also been formulated around low-altitude economy development. In terms of financial support, various industrial funds totaling 800 million yuan have been established, and a modern equipment manufacturing and new materials industry fund with a total scale of more than 400 million yuan is being formed, supporting industrial development with real money and sincere commitment.
The 14th Party Congress of Hohhot proposed implementing the "industry-strong city" strategy and making every effort to strengthen eight distinctive industrial clusters including the aerospace industry. In cultivating and expanding the aerospace industry cluster, the city will vigorously develop industries such as the low-altitude economy, commercial space, and Beidou navigation, continuously expand distinctive application scenarios, and build bases for low-altitude aircraft testing and certification, aircraft dismantling and maintenance, and full commercial space industry chain manufacturing. This deployment has further clarified the direction and strengthened confidence for Hohhot to continue strengthening the low-altitude economy and commercial space.
On October 29, the Hohhot Aerospace Industry Cluster Supply-Demand Matching Meeting was successfully held. The meeting focused on the two new tracks of low-altitude economy and commercial space, releasing two major lists of investment project needs and application scenario needs to industry enterprises and investment institutions. It was both a pragmatic action to implement the Party Congress's "industry-strong city" strategy and a way to bring fresh momentum to industry chain construction. The lists sorted out and selected 42 key cooperation directions, including 32 industrial investment projects and 10 real-scenario application projects, clearly defining four major cooperation sectors: materials and basic components, equipment manufacturing and precision processing, aerospace applications and supporting services, and industrial cluster application scenarios. This provides a clear "navigation map" for investment attraction and promotes the transformation of development opportunities into implemented physical projects.
Qingcheng opportunities, striving toward the sky. Hohhot will continue to build a full-chain industrial ecosystem along the path of "strengthening the manufacturing chain, supplementing the service chain, and revitalizing the chain through scenarios." In the materials field, the city will focus on introducing projects such as aerospace carbon fiber high-temperature insulation materials, solid rocket propellant, and fourth-generation semiconductor materials to form a nearby supporting material supply system. In the equipment manufacturing field, the city will focus on introducing projects such as complete drones and eVTOL vehicles and core component manufacturing, commercial rockets and solid launch vehicle development, and small satellite final assembly and integration, while filling in test stands and experimental verification carriers. In the aerospace applications and supporting services field, the city will focus on introducing projects such as aerospace computing power and satellite data processing, Beidou navigation terminal research and development, low-altitude integrated service platforms, and drone airworthiness certification. In the downstream scenario field, the city will focus on developing applications such as low-altitude tourism sightseeing, smart agriculture and animal husbandry plant protection, urban and rural logistics distribution, and emergency rescue, allowing aerospace technology to deeply integrate into Hohhot's production and daily life.
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