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As a major drone and aerial industry exhibition opened in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province on Thursday, visitors crowded the exhibition stands to check out the state-of-the-art aviation products, gathering around a streamlined 2-ton electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) prototype to experience the vision of future air travel.
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Chinese eVTOL maker AutoFlight had recently completed a landmark demonstration flight of its self-developed eVTOL craft.
As Chinese eVTOL developers advance at home and abroad, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has set up a low‑altitude safety department. This is the second national‑level body dedicated to the sector, following the low‑altitude economy department launched by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in December 2024.
The upgraded national-level industrial planning and aviation governance have laid a solid foundation for the long-term, standardized and high-quality growth of China’s low-altitude economy, insiders said.
Breakthroughs in progress
The 2026 International Low Altitude Economy and Unmanned Systems Expo has drawn more than 1,200 Chinese and foreign companies across 110,000 square meters, displaying over 10,000 products including drones, eVTOLs and flying cars.
FCourier, a brand under Chinese eVTOL manufacturer Vertaxi, stole the spotlight by unveiling its 2‑ton eVTOL prototype M1, the first full-size large eVTOL ever displayed at the expo. The company also debuted two new products: the E80A cargo drone designed to fill logistics blind spots within the last 100 kilometers, support emergency rescue operations and remote medical deliveries, as well as the AP5 automatic airport system. The latter enables the round-the-clock autonomous drone operations, widely applicable to energy inspection, forestry management, border patrol and maritime supervision.
Overseas expansion is also gaining momentum. On May 19, AutoFlight completed a landmark demonstration flight of its 2-ton-class eVTOL aircraft in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which represents the first urban air mobility flight conducted by large-scale eVTOL models across Central Asia.
