The local populace of Qingyang often describes their city using the phrase “high sky, rich soil” to capture its geographical features. Nestled in the heart of the Loess Plateau, Qingyang is situated on the renowned “world's largest loess tableland,” characterized by its thick loess deposits and expansive surface area.
Surprisingly, during my visit in the golden autumn season, I witnessed that the skies above Qingyang seemed to be getting “higher.” The term “low-altitude economy,” which appears to belong to the more developed eastern and central regions, has now taken flight in Qingyang.
Situated in a revolutionary old area, this inland city, hidden within the Loess Plateau, is transforming itself into Gansu's first low-altitude economy city. Their ambition is clear, as they aim to explore a path suited to the development of low-altitude economy in China’s central and western cities.
Qingyang dares to soar, capitalizing on rare resource endowments along with pioneering spirit and courage. A surprising announcement earlier this spring startled many Qingyang residents: the Digital China Innovation Competition established a low-altitude economy track, choosing Qingyang as its host city for the first time.
From April 22 to 26, Qingyang hosted the largest and most technologically advanced comprehensive competition stage in China’s low-altitude economy field. Over four days, more than 1,300 contestants, organized into 340 specialized teams from over 20 provinces, competed in a groundbreaking “low-altitude contest” amidst the Loess Plateau.
Competitors utilized drones as their medium for showcasing skills across various scenarios, such as agricultural and forestry pest control, oilfield inspections, and emergency response drills. Prominent industry players like Qinghang Zijing and Haiying Feihang participated in this significant event.
Why was such an important competition held in the revolutionary old area of Qingyang? According to Wu Wenhua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the National Information Center, it was not a coincidence that Qingyang was chosen. Its geographical advantages, airspace resources, and policy support laid a solid foundation for the success of the event.
Qingyang possesses excellent airspace conditions, being home to a 4C-level airport and having operated a civil aviation training school safely for over a decade. The newly constructed Huachi Nanliang Airport will be the second A1-class general airport in the province.
“Compared to developed cities, Qingyang has high airspace openness, with suitable airspace accounting for over 90%,” explained Huang Yongjun, Deputy Director of the Qingyang Transport Department. He further noted that Qingyang has a rare computational power advantage as well, being one of the eight national hub nodes and ten data center clusters in the national integrated computing power network. This strong computational capability equips the low-altitude economy with a smart 'brain.'
Diverse application scenarios abound. With various industries such as comprehensive energy, oil, coal, chemical, digital economy, and equipment manufacturing, Qingyang has fostered broad applications in low-altitude logistics, oilfield pipeline inspections, agricultural care, and emergency response.
However, can Qingyang take flight solely on its resource endowments? Through discussions with department heads from the Qingyang Development and Reform Commission and the Qingyang Industry and Information Bureau, a clearer answer emerges – Qingyang possesses the courage to seize opportunities amidst the tides of the era.
Although underdeveloped and inland, Qingyang is bold in its efforts. As a national strategic emerging industry and typical representation of new-quality productivity, the low-altitude economy has been included in the State Council's government work report for two consecutive years. The old growth models no longer suffice; Qingyang aims to integrate into a larger context, clarify its resources, and boldly layout its strategies in nurturing emerging and future industries.
— Actively promoting foundational work in airspace classification management; — Applying for national urban air traffic control pilot projects; — Formulating development planning systems for low-altitude economy industries;
With its sights set on “blue skies,” Qingyang has embarked on a new track for the development of the low-altitude economy, empowering high-quality growth.
What can Qingyang showcase as it takes flight?
— Instead of being confined to its own industrial chain, it seeks to leverage external strengths for soaring opportunities. Qingyang's people understand that low-altitude economy cannot merely emerge from “paper plans” into the vast sky without real efforts. Looking around this land, the industrial chain of the low-altitude economy seems bare.
Are they stuck in this predicament? Not at all. Through innovation and collaboration, Qingyang is striving to open up the doors to the low-altitude economy.
In the Ningshan and Sheng Industrial Concentration Zone, several manufacturing companies linked to the drone industry have already set up shop. Qingyang Chainjing Additive Manufacturing Co., Ltd., based in Hangzhou, is a notable example of this initiative. General Manager Gu Jiaqi took pride in introducing a newly developed turbojet engine designed specifically for fixed-wing drones, which started production in July and is expected to be mass-produced by early next year.
“Where do the materials and technologies for such high-tech products come from in Qingyang?” we were astonished.
“This is all 3D printed, developed and produced by ourselves,” mentioned Gu, who believes that while Qingyang lacks core components, the company’s 3D printing technology addresses this gap.
“Our company has successfully installed and debugged 20 3D printers, now entering trial production phases,” Gu informed us, adding that an additional 12 printers are on the way.
Gu highlighted the cost advantages of Qingyang, where raw material and product shipping costs represent a smaller proportion, while fixed costs for factory construction, electricity, and labor are more favorable.
Ningshan is also home to a business-friendly atmosphere, which Gu credits as a vital aspect of their decision to establish operations in Qingyang. This sentiment was echoed by Hou Yibo, Manager of Jiuzhou Weian Gansu Technology Development Co., Ltd., who praised Qingyang’s sincerity during their negotiations.
Starting in the past winter, Ningshan officials began engaging with them. The promise of mutual benefit persuaded them to relocate from Northeast China to Qingyang within a month.
Their expectations were exceeded, with rapid construction of their facilities taking place in just three months. Key infrastructure, such as cement roads, was laid down within 10 days.
Investing a total of 400 million yuan, with over 100 million yuan in the first phase alone, Jiuzhou Weian's significant investment in Qingyang is backed by their 19 patented technologies.
Driven by ambition, Hou excitingly recounted how their self-developed high-performance carbon fiber composite material is significantly lighter (one-third the density of traditional materials) and stronger (more than 50% improvement). This innovation fills a gap in dedicated carbon fiber materials for drones in Northwestern China.
The high-precision flight control system incorporated allows for a precision of one meter in positioning, which boosts operational efficiency by 40% compared to traditional systems.
“By the end of August, our company’s drone frame went through successful trial production, with current orders resulting in 1,000 units, of which over 250 have already been made.” Hou exclaimed that their next aim is to manufacture drone structures in Qingyang.
Hou’s ambitions extend beyond this, as they plan to establish a comprehensive supply chain from research and development to manufacturing core components and providing technical services to contribute to Qingyang's low-altitude economy.
Ambitious enterprises are matched by forward-thinking government visions.
“We aim to transform Hesheng Town into a low-altitude economy town,” remarked Zhang Haitao, Executive Deputy Mayor of Ningshan, as he painted an inspiring blueprint based on their investment achievements.
Zhongfei Aviation from Beijing is set to bring research and development here to produce multi-rotor and fixed-wing drones; Lai'ao Aviation has chosen this site to assemble powered paragliders and vertically taking-off rotorcraft; Fanlian Electronics, founded by returnee entrepreneurs from Zhejiang, will focus on manufacturing necessary data cable for drone production.
With numerous enterprises arriving in succession, the low-altitude economy in Qingyang is poised for significant growth.
As Qingyang ascends, it must also enrich the landscape of its application scenarios while training talent and empowering its workforce.
In Qingyang, the low-altitude economy journey isn’t just about launching familiar drones into the sky or merely bringing in companies; it’s about innovating new services and business models within the low-altitude economy.
For instance, transporting large external wall glass for high-rise buildings in urban areas could traditionally require labor-intensive manual loading or cranes. The remarkable answer? Drones.
Recently, in the bustling center of Xifeng District, at a skyscraper under construction measuring over 70 meters tall, drones efficiently delivered over 100 large slabs of glass.
Buzzing like scenes from a sci-fi novel, a drone with a diameter of 1.7 meters and a payload of 60 kilograms smoothly lifted off with glass slabs, deftly delivering them to workers on the upper floors.
In just one day, a six-person team was able to complete this task that otherwise would be labor-intensive.
Expanding these innovative applications and uncovering new demands, Qingyang truly understands that the scale of application scenarios directly influences the low-altitude economy's market potential.
In a thousand-acre apple plantation located in Ningshan, the low-altitude economy liberates farmers from tedious tasks. Drones now spray pesticides, covering up to 500 acres per day — efficiency that is 20 times greater than manual efforts.
In the Changqing Oilfield’s Qingyang section, traditional inspection methods used to require workers to hike mountains and climb pipelines, which were not only inefficient but dangerous. Drones equipped with infrared thermal imaging devices now cover 300 kilometers of oil and gas pipelines weekly, significantly reducing inspection risks by over 90%.
With multiple applications coming to the forefront, the trend of “low-altitude +” is gathering momentum across multiple sectors in Qingyang.
For the low-altitude economy to truly “fly higher,” it undoubtedly requires talent.
Currently, Qingyang’s higher educational institutions are forming partnerships with external research organizations and businesses to enhance talent training and construct foundational talent reservoirs to boost innovation capacities.
This fall, Qingyang Vocational and Technical College launched a new drone technology program, enrolling five classes of 260 students.
“This program is currently the most sought-after in our vocational offerings, attracting the highest admission scores,” shared Yang Sanning, the college’s vice president, indicating the bright prospects of the low-altitude economy appealing to students.
Since February of this year, the college has collaborated with a tech company from Xi’an to jointly establish a talent cultivation base for the low-altitude economy. To date, they have helped over 200 students achieve their dreams of becoming pilots.
Upon visiting the training base, I met Gu Sitong, a third-year design student, learning how to operate drones.
“I hope to obtain my drone pilot license, acquiring skills that will enhance my employability.” she shared energetically.
Many other eager students like Gu Sitong are pursuing their dreams at the training base.
At 35, Xu Xiaolong, who left a job in animal husbandry after a decade, has now set his sights on the low-altitude economy, aiming to become a drone pilot.
While I observed Xu Xiaolong, he was being guided by an instructor as he practiced stabilizing a drone in the sky with the remote control.
“With the development of the low-altitude economy, I believe there will be a growing need for drone operation technicians.” Xu stated confidently.
The race towards low-altitude innovation is already in progress.
Riding the winds of low-altitude economy development, an increasing number of aspiring pilots like Gu Sitong and Xu Xiaolong are getting ready to take flight.
Consequently, Qingyang is soaring toward a broader horizon.
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