Wuxi has nearly 160 enterprises and 30 investment funds in the low-altitude sector. It has also opened 32 low-altitude flight routes stretching 1,320 km in total.

　　“Low-altitude economy is a 'blue ocean' of business opportunities,“ said Gao Yuanyang, director of a general aviation industry research center at Beihang University.

　　Gao noted that a long-term, systematic rollout for the low-altitude economy is underway across China, from building infrastructure and cultivating a regulatory environment to promoting commercial uses and building a comprehensive industrial system.

　　Low-altitude application scenarios extend far beyond commuting and logistics. In China's rural areas, farmers are easing the burden of labor-intensive tasks, with drones being used for fertilizing, pesticide spraying and seed sowing.

　　Data from China's National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center show that the country now boasts more than 250,000 agricultural drones, a dramatic increase from only 695 drones a decade ago.

　　According to Xu Ning, an economic researcher at Nanjing University, the scope of the low-altitude economy is expanding quickly, from passenger and freight transportation and agricultural production to many other fields including leisure travel and emergency medical services.

　　“To realize the full potential, local authorities must tailor their strategies to nurture more application scenarios of the low-altitude economy,“ Xu said, adding that developing a low-altitude economy is not a 100-meter sprint, but a marathon.