Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

PICTURE yourself lounging on a picnic blanket in a park, craving a refreshing drink or snack, and having it swiftly delivered by a buzzing drone. This once futuristic scenario is becoming a reality as parks in Shenzhen adopt drone deliveries to elevate the visitor experience.

Drone deliveries

In May this year, food delivery giant Meituan unveiled the city’s first drone delivery route in Futian District’s Shenzhen Central Park. Offering speedy deliveries to customers in as little as 10 minutes, the service operates from the UpperHills shopping mall, which is located approximately 2 kilometers away from the park.

“Thanks to drone deliveries, I can simply walk to the designated pickup spot for my food. It’s incredibly convenient,” said a citizen surnamed Zhang, who often goes camping with his family at the park on weekends.

Zhang previously struggled to prepare over 10 types of food at home, leading to significant inconvenience. “I tried ordering deliveries, but it was very difficult for the delivery person to locate me in the park,” Zhang explained.

This drone delivery service has not only brought great convenience to residents, but has also left international tourists amazed. The Hutchinsons, a family of five from the U.K., tried the park’s drone delivery service during their visit to Shenzhen earlier this year. In a video posted on their social media, the father was awed when he received a drink in the middle of the park, an experience he never anticipated.

Currently, drone deliveries are available in several local parks, including Lianhua Hill Park in Futian District, Shenzhen North Railway Station Central Park in Longhua District, and Shenzhen Talent Park and Shenzhen Bay Park in Nanshan District.

Data from Meituan indicate that drone deliveries have been well-received by customers. For example, during the May Day holiday, the order volume of Meituan’s drone delivery routes within parks surged by over 300%.

Drone delivery services have also been introduced in other locations, such as university campuses and residential communities. To date, Meituan has established more than 30 delivery routes in Shenzhen, fulfilling over 300,000 orders and offering users a selection of more than 90,000 products.

Additionally, in January, Shenzhen introduced its first gold and jewelry drone delivery route, connecting the Shuibei jewelry market in Luohu District with the Lilang International Jewelry Industrial Park in Longgang District. Operated by Phoenix Wings, a subsidiary of Shenzhen-based delivery giant SF Express, this 12.6-kilometer route takes approximately 12 minutes.

Flying taxis, helicopter rides

Shenzhen introduced the country’s first dedicated legal framework to regulate the low-altitude economy, aiming to propel the sector to new heights. These regulations, which took effect Feb.1 this year, emphasize the growing number of low-altitude flight applications, including aerial commuting and flying taxis.

AutoFlight, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) startup, completed the world’s first inter-city electric air-taxi demonstration flight between Shenzhen and Zhuhai this February. Prosperity, the company’s four-passenger eVTOL aircraft, completed the unmanned 50-kilometer trip in just 20 minutes, which would take three hours by car.

Xie Jia, senior vice president of AutoFlight, disclosed during a public event last month that although eVOLT hasn’t been used commercially yet, the price for its eVTOL services will be approximately 6 yuan (US$0.85) per kilometer per passenger once its business scale reaches a certain threshold.

This January, Houwei Huasheng (Shenzhen) International Intelligent Technology Co. successfully completed its maiden eVTOL aircraft test flight in Yantian District. The trial, conducted at a bus depot in Dameisha, paves the way for routine flights of unmanned passenger vehicles in the district, which will be aimed at sightseeing.

Since the launch of helicopter services in Pingshan District in March of last year, helicopters have emerged as a swift travel option. Li Xiaozheng, an associate professor at Shenzhen University and co-founder of Junchangyi Biotechnology Co, sees a lot of value in the expansion of helicopter services.

“Our company, a biopharmaceutical startup in Pingshan, frequently hosts experts and clients who visit our company. Opting for a helicopter from the airport to Pingshan has greatly saved time and enhanced our business opportunities,” Li said.

Low-altitude economy

China’s low-altitude economy — recognized as a strategic emerging industry and a new growth driver for the country — is experiencing rapid growth. It was also included in the Government Work Report for the first time this year.

A recent report from CCID Consulting, a think tank associated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, reveals that the value of China’s low-altitude economy reached nearly 506 billion yuan (US$69.8 billion) last year, a 33.8% increase compared to the previous year. The report projects that its value will exceed 1 trillion yuan by 2026.

Shenzhen, which has been at the forefront of the flourishing low-altitude economy, has a complete low-altitude industrial chain that covers unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) research and development, production, manufacturing, sales, and practical applications.

UAVs are playing a significant role in driving the low-altitude economy. At the end of 2023, Shenzhen was home to over 1,700 drone companies that have a combined annual output totaling 96 billion yuan, according to official data. Well-known drone companies like DJI, Autel, and Alltech are based in Shenzhen, and industry leaders such as AutoFlight, German company Lilium, and Zhuoyi have expanded operations in the city.

In the first half of this year, Shenzhen demonstrated its leading position in the low-altitude economy, with cargo drone flight volume, new cargo routes, manned flight volume, and passenger numbers ranking among the top in the country. There were approximately 255,000 cargo drone flights, up 38% year on year, and 12,000 passengers were transported by helicopter, marking a 20% year-on-year increase.

Eager to increase the number of low-altitude services, Shenzhen has set a target to launch more than 1,000 commercial flight routes by the end of 2025, according to information released at the Shenzhen Low-altitude Economy High-quality Development Conference in August of this year.

Looking beyond specialized companies, those in other industries have started to dabble in the low-altitude economy. Their participation has led to a surge of innovation in the field, according to Yang Jincai, chairman of the World UAV Federation and president of the Shenzhen UAV Industry Association.

To further support this sector, Shenzhen released a four-year action plan for the low-altitude economy, aiming to build a low-altitude economic center, a general aviation industry comprehensive demonstration area, and a civil unmanned aviation test area.

The city also established the Shenzhen Low-Altitude Economy Expert Committee last May, while in August last year, the city’s transportation bureau introduced a series of supportive measures aimed at further developing low-altitude airspace.