Looking to the stars 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 and pressing ahead, focusing on developing the low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace, striving to switch lanes and lead on this new track.
In the autumn days of Qingcheng, the low-altitude economy industrial park in the Hohhot Aerospace Economic Development Zone is bustling with activity. The second phase of the Inner Mongolia Kuailun Technology Future Transportation and Low-Altitude Equipment Intelligent Manufacturing Base is under accelerated construction, with workers working against the clock and fighting according to plan, sprinting toward the landing of the region's first fully automated general-purpose drone production line. Ji Guoxin, general manager of Inner Mongolia Kuailun Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that the second phase closely follows the autonomous region's strategic emerging industry layout and plans three core production lines. The general-purpose drone production line covers key links such as fuselage assembly, flight control debugging, and complete aircraft testing, realizing fully automated flow operations from parts 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 aircraft + terminals + core modules." After the project is completed, it will land the autonomous region's first fully automated general-purpose drone production line, fill the gap in large-scale manufacturing of core low-altitude economy equipment, and drive the clustering of related industries in intelligent travel and Beidou navigation.
Kuailun Technology is adjacent to the Shaliang China-Europe Railway Express distribution center of the international land port and, combined with the location advantage of the China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone, is focusing on developing domestic and international authorized businesses and building an economic dual-circulation and enterprise dual-track operation 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 was officially put into operation, Hohhot was approved as one of the first batch of national Beidou large-scale application pilot cities, and the region's first aerospace economic development zone began operation, gathering a group of related enterprises such as Lanyi Low-Altitude and Yihang Technology. In 2025, the Inner Mongolia Low-Altitude Economy Innovation Center, the Beidou High-Resolution Industry Research Institute, and the region's first low-altitude economy municipal industry-education consortium were established. Projects such as Zhongyi Low-Altitude and the first phase of Fengchao Low-Altitude were completed and put into production. In 2026, Hohhot will welcome a concentrated period of low-altitude economy project implementation. Projects such as the second phase of Fengchao Low-Altitude will be completed and put into production, the low-altitude flight supervision service platform will be accelerated, and projects such as the Baita Air and Space Industry Base and the Inner Mongolia Electric Power Aviation Inspection Center will start construction, promoting the landing of drone manufacturing projects such as Feiruide and Digital Eagle, developing more than five application scenarios including scenic area sightseeing and agricultural plant protection, building a "aerospace + green + cultural tourism" development model, striving for the landing of key projects such as "commercial aerospace test and verification services," and forming a development chain of "core resources + industrial clustering + ecosystem creation."
Today, the low-altitude economy is becoming a new driving force for Hohhot's high-quality development, moving from "takeoff" toward "high flight." Industrial takeoff cannot be separated from innovation empowerment. On March 24, the Inner Mongolia Academician Workstation for the Low-Altitude Economy was unveiled and put into operation. As the region's first low-altitude economy academician workstation, it will focus on key application scenarios in the low-altitude economy, tackle technical difficulties in areas such as smart agricultural operations and low-altitude traffic safety, accelerate the local transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and help break through "bottleneck" technologies such as low-altitude detection and flight control. "The workstation will link scientific research institutes and enterprises in Hohhot, build an innovation platform for deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application, and promote the clustering of innovation resources toward the industrial front line," said a relevant person in charge of the workstation. At the same time, it will release the radiation effect of academician resources, promote precise docking between local enterprises and leading resources in the aerospace industry chain, introduce upstream and downstream enterprises such as aircraft parts manufacturing and low-altitude traffic scheduling system development, and build a full-chain industrial ecosystem of "low-altitude manufacturing - flight services - safety assurance."
Policy support and planning guidance. At the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region level, a series of support policies have been issued 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 the low-altitude economy, and management measures for special funds for civil aviation development. There is a commercial aerospace and low-altitude economy sub-fund of the autonomous region's guiding fund for cultivating key industries with a total scale of 1 billion yuan. At the Hohhot city level, a detailed action plan has also been formulated around low-altitude economy development. In terms of financial support, various industrial funds of 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 intentions. The 14th Party Congress of Hohhot proposed implementing the "industry-strong city" strategy and fully strengthening eight characteristic industrial clusters including the aerospace industry. In cultivating and expanding the aerospace industrial cluster, it will vigorously develop industries such as the low-altitude economy, commercial aerospace, and Beidou navigation, continuously expand characteristic application scenarios, and build bases for low-altitude aircraft testing and certification, aircraft dismantling and maintenance, and commercial aerospace full-industry-chain manufacturing. This deployment further clarifies the direction and strengthens confidence for Hohhot to continue strengthening the low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace.
On October 29, the Hohhot aerospace industrial cluster production-demand matchmaking meeting was successfully held. The meeting focused on the two new tracks of low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace, releasing two lists of investment project needs and application scenario needs to industry enterprises and investment institutions. It is not only a pragmatic action to implement the Party Congress's "industry-strong city" strategy, but also brings source vitality to industrial 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 sections: materials and basic components, equipment manufacturing and precision processing, aerospace applications and supporting services, and industrial cluster application scenarios, providing a clear "navigation map" for investment attraction and promoting the transformation of development opportunities into landed 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, it will focus on introducing projects such as aerospace carbon fiber high-temperature insulation materials, solid rocket propellants, and fourth-generation semiconductor materials to form a nearby supporting material supply system. In the equipment manufacturing field, it will focus on introducing projects such as complete drones and eVTOL aircraft and core component manufacturing, commercial rockets and solid launch vehicle development, and small satellite assembly and integration, and fill gaps in test stands and experimental verification carriers. In the aerospace application and supporting services field, it will focus on introducing projects such as aerospace computing power and satellite data processing, Beidou navigation terminal research and development, comprehensive low-altitude service platforms, and drone airworthiness certification. In the downstream scenario field, it 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 life.
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