Focusing on the high-quality development of Guangzhou - "Sky City" shining into reality

Recently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the EH216-S Manned Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Type Certificate (TC) to Yihang Intelligent Equipment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd

Recently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the EH216-S Manned Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Type Certificate (TC) to Yihang Intelligent Equipment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Yihang Intelligent"), which means that the EH216-S model design meets the airworthiness requirements of the Civil Aviation Administration and has the safety capability for manned operation. This is also the first model in the world to obtain certification for manned eVTOL aircraft, marking a new stage of development for China's "low altitude economy".

Riding a manned unmanned aerial vehicle for short distance travel in cities can alleviate traffic congestion and other issues in large cities, and this is a commercial mode of travel that can be carried out in major cities in the near future. Nowadays, the "low altitude economy" is accelerating development in Guangzhou, and the formation of industrial agglomeration effect and innovation ecology has brought the imagination of "Sky City" into reality.

Yihang Intelligent EH216-S Manned Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Vision: Ordinary people can take "air taxis" for travel

On October 10, 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Outline for the Development of Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry (2023-2035)", which clearly proposed to seize the opportunity of aviation power transformation and accelerate the cultivation of new forms of aviation industry. On October 13th, the world's first unmanned aerial vehicle airworthiness certificate was issued to Yihang Intelligent. The intense actions are driving the development of low altitude economy into a "new track".

On a global scale, all manned aircraft cannot enter the commercial market without the airworthiness certification procedures of the aviation regulatory authorities. According to Hu Huazhi, Chairman of Yihang Intelligence, as early as December 2020, the company officially submitted an application for the EH216-S unmanned aerial vehicle system model certificate to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. After more than 30 months, the certificate was issued. During this period, EH216-S conducted a large number of laboratory tests, ground tests, and flight tests in professional aviation laboratories and testing sites in multiple parts of China, comprehensively and rigorously verifying the safety, airworthiness, performance, functionality, reliability, and other aspects of EH216-S, including over 500 subject matter investigation tests, adjustment flight tests of over 40000 flight sorties, and formal compliance verification tests of 65 major and 450+subjects.

As a local brand in Guangzhou, Yihang Intelligent has gradually become a leading enterprise in the "low altitude economy" industry since its establishment in 2014. The EH216-S manned unmanned aerial vehicle, which has obtained the model certification, has advantages such as unmanned driving and vertical takeoff and landing, and can be applied in scenarios such as manned transportation, air tourism, air logistics, and medical emergency response.

In Hu Huazhi's view, urban air traffic is a very important component of the "low altitude economy", and the most desired vision of Yihang is to enable ordinary people to take "air taxis" for travel. He said, "Unlike current road traffic, vehicles can only move along a single line in one plane. Air traffic is a three-dimensional transportation system, and its capacity and potential are enormous." Next, Yihang will gradually carry out commercial operations of unmanned driving and manned vehicles for short and medium distances in cities in accordance with regulations.

In addition to the EH216-S, the exhibition hall of Yihang Intelligence also houses unmanned aircraft models with rotor and straight wing structures, capable of flying 300 kilometers, used to solve low altitude and equidistant situations, such as manned flights between cities.

Hu Huazhi expects that after obtaining the airworthiness certificate, the supply of manned unmanned aerial vehicles will immediately show a significant upward trend. From the perspective of the entire industrial chain, including raw materials for carbon fibers, weaving process suppliers, electronic products, electronic components, etc., there will be a relatively direct growth. In the future, the assembly, maintenance, and specialized training courses for operators of spare parts in the upstream and downstream of the entire supply chain will be a complete industry

Scale: Annual revenue of approximately 12.5 billion yuan covering the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the industrial chain

With the rapid development of low altitude manned aircraft and low altitude logistics, the low altitude economy is gradually becoming a new blue ocean for industrial development and a new hotspot for economic growth, with broad prospects and huge potential.

The so-called "low altitude economy" refers to a comprehensive economic form that is driven by various low altitude flight activities of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, radiating and driving the integration and development of related fields. The low altitude economy is mainly composed of low altitude manufacturing industry, low altitude flight industry, low altitude support industry, and comprehensive service industry. It has the characteristics of wide radiation chain, long industrial chain, strong growth and driving force, and plays an increasingly important role in promoting economic development, strengthening social security, and serving national defense.

With the first inclusion of "low altitude economy" in China's national economic development plan in 2021, low altitude economy has been increasingly valued in various regions. The Guangzhou Development Zone has a strong foundation in this field. At present, there are 45 low altitude industry chain enterprises in the area, including Yihang Intelligence, with an annual revenue scale of about 12.5 billion yuan, covering the upstream, middle and downstream of the industry chain, including research and development design, raw material, component manufacturing and integration in the upstream, important component manufacturing in the midstream such as flight control, navigation, communication, and mission payload systems, as well as multi scenario applications in downstream logistics, smart city management, and other aspects.

Guangzhou Chengxing Communication Technology Co., Ltd. serves the low altitude economy and provides satellite communication support for high and low altitude flight equipment. The strategic development director of the company, Hu Dengling, stated that the Guangzhou Development Zone has related industries such as new materials, semiconductors, communication, sensors, drones, and automobiles, which are expected to form a complete industrial chain in the "low altitude economy" field, bringing billions of yuan of output value development space for related enterprises. With the maturity of the low altitude regulatory system, in the long run, a market with a scale of over a trillion yuan will be formed.

Application: Enter multiple scenarios such as public security law enforcement and emergency rescue

With the maturity of material technology, battery technology, and flight control technology, the application scenarios of drones are also increasing.

As one of the earliest enterprises in China to engage in drone patrol business, Zhongke Zhiyun has independently developed AI smart accessories that integrate various technological means such as visible light, infrared, and LiDAR. They have equipped drones with "eyes" and "brains", and have derived independent products and technologies such as "intelligent route planning", "onboard AI box", and "drone intelligent control operation system". Utilize drone platforms to assist the power grid in conducting inspections of power transmission lines and substation (converter) stations. With the support of AI technology, drones can determine the type of fault at the front end, ensuring effective inspection flights, which improves the efficiency of traditional manual inspection by nearly 20 times. Currently, the company's drone inspection business covers more than ten provinces and has long-term cooperation with the three major power grids in China.

Guangdong Yijing Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yijing Technology") utilizes drones to assist in social governance. Its self-developed drones can be applied in multiple scenarios such as social governance, public security law enforcement, and emergency rescue, relying on technologies such as automatic battery replacement to achieve continuous patrols. Wan Shilin, Chairman of Yijing Technology, also introduced a solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle "Small Edition Rainbow" that the company is developing. It uses solar energy as the main power source and can achieve continuous 24-hour flight under sufficient sunlight. In situations such as natural disasters, it can serve as a communication relay carrier to provide communication capabilities for disaster areas for a long time

Guangzhou strengthens new infrastructure to support industrial development

In September 2022, Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development Zone will introduce the fifth electronic research institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which has the only national UAV system quality supervision and inspection center and a number of domestic and international recognized qualifications, and establish Guangdong Cyber Xintiandi Technology Co., Ltd. to improve the infrastructure and flight service guarantee system as a whole, and focus on building "N supporting facilities+1 platform", that is, to build a number of low altitude aircraft take-off and landing points as a whole Low altitude surveillance facilities, unmanned aerial vehicle automatic duty hangars, and other ground infrastructure supporting facilities for low altitude flight.

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