Active Promotion of Low-Altitude Drone Industry
It is now possible to enjoy food delivery at the Great Wall of China. Thanks to drones.
Great Wall of China
On the 22nd (local time), the US CNN broadcast highlighted China's low-altitude drone industry, which the Chinese government is fostering as one of its future strategic industries. In particular, it gave in-depth coverage to Meituan, a Chinese food delivery company that has started delivering food and medicine by drone at the Great Wall.
Meituan began this service on the 16th at the Badaling (八達嶺) section of the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing. This section was first opened in December last year and is classified as a 5A-level tourist site, the highest grade in China's national heritage tourism rating. Therefore, commercial facilities are completely prohibited, and it takes at least 30 minutes to walk to get food, drinks, or medicine. However, now tourists can obtain necessary items within 5 minutes thanks to the drone delivery service.
Meituan explained, "A distance that takes 50 minutes on foot only takes 5 minutes using drones," adding, "Each flight can carry up to 2.3 kg, and the delivery fee is only 4 yuan (about 747 won), the same as regular delivery."
The low-altitude economy that China is actively fostering is an industry utilizing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and drones in airspace below 1,000 meters altitude. It was first introduced as a new growth engine for the Chinese economy in the Chinese government's work report in March this year. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) forecasts that the scale of China's low-altitude economy will grow from 500 billion yuan (about 93.4 trillion won) last year to 2 trillion yuan (about 373.6 trillion won) by 2030.
Chinese-made drones succeed in delivery on Everest
China dominates most of the global drone market. Over 90% of drones sold domestically are Chinese-made.
Earlier in June, Chinese drone manufacturer DJI succeeded for the first time in the world in using drones to transport goods on Mount Everest and remove trash left by climbers at altitudes above 6,000 meters. The drone carried a 15 kg oxygen tank and other supplies from the South Base Camp of Everest at an altitude of 5,364 meters to a camp 700 meters higher and returned. Despite the subzero temperatures and strong winds during the round trip, the drone reached a maximum altitude of 6,200 meters with 43% battery power remaining.
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