BEIJING - Engineers sent China’s biggest-yet cargo drone on a test run over the weekend while a helicopter taxi took to the skies on a soon-to-open 100km route between Shanghai and a city in Jiangsu, setting new milestones for the country’s expanding low-altitude economy.

       Packing a payload capacity of two tonnes, the twin-engine cargo drone developed by state-funded Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation took off in south-western Sichuan province on Aug 11 for its inaugural flight that lasted approximately 20 minutes, state media reported.

       The Tengden-built drone, with a wingspan of 16.1m and a height of 4.6m, is slightly larger than the world’s most popular light aircraft, the four-seat Cessna 172.

       Manufacturers in the world’s top drone-making nation are testing ever larger payloads, while transport companies are planning air taxi services – both manned and unmanned – as China loosens airspace curbs and grants incentives to build up a low-altitude economy.

       A low-altitude economy largely refers to economic activities conducted in low-altitude airspace, including flight operations, passenger transport and cargo delivery.

       China’s aviation regulator foresees a 2 trillion yuan (S$369 billion) industry by 2030, a fourfold expansion from 2023.

       In a 2024 report, the government identified the low-altitude economy as a new growth engine for the first time, with vertical mobility seen as a “new productive force” in areas such as passenger and cargo transport.

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       The Tengden trial run followed the maiden flight in June of a cargo drone developed by state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic), the leading aerospace enterprise.

       The Avic’s HH-100 has a payload capacity of 700kg and a flight radius of 520km. In 2025, Avic plans to test its biggest cargo drone, the TP2000, which can carry up to two tonnes of cargo and fly four times farther than the HH-100.

       China has already begun commercial deliveries by drone.

       In May, cargo drone firm Phoenix Wings, part of delivery giant SF Express, started delivering fresh fruit from the island province of Hainan to southern Guangdong using Fengzhou-90 drones developed by SF, a unit of S.F. Holding.

       Cargo drones promise shorter delivery times and lower transport costs, Chinese industry insiders say, while expanding deliveries to sites lacking conventional aviation facilities, such as rooftop spaces in heavily built-up cities.

       Drones could also ferry people on taxi services.

       In April, the aviation authorities issued a production certificate to unmanned aerial vehicle maker EHang Holdings, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, for its passenger-carrying drone, China’s first such certification for an autonomous passenger drone.

       On Aug 10, a manned commercial passenger helicopter took off for the first time from Kunshan, a city in Jiangsu province, to Shanghai Pudong Airport, state media said.

       For one-way fares of up to 1,800 yuan, Shanghai NewSky Heli aims to cut travel time between the cities to 20 minutes from several hours. It expects as many as 30,000 passengers a year to use the route.

       Shanghai aims to expand low-altitude routes to cover other cities in the Yangtze River Delta. REUTERS