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Economic Watch: Cost-effective drones soar to popularity across China

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E-mail Xinhua, January 25, 2025

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Editor's note: The era of drones is on the horizon. Some say it is already becoming reality in China, thanks to the rapid rise of "low-altitude economy" and great affordability of Chinese-made drones. Xinhua hereby presents a series of three stories to shed light on the "drone revolution" in China, and how it will redefine everything from disaster response to rural employment. The following is the third piece about drones' innovative adoptions in new areas.

BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- In China's ambitious bid to reclaim its vast, arid landscapes, drones have emerged as a powerful tool, flying over the Kubuqi Desert each spring, autumn and winter to spread seeds, reinforce windbreaks and rejuvenate fragile ecosystems.

Li Ting, a millennial with a decade of experience in desertification control, has witnessed firsthand how unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are transforming both the landscape and the approach to combating desertification.

"It has not only reduced the reliance on manual labor but also significantly lowered operational costs and boosted efficiency. Drones allow workers to carry out their tasks regardless of weather conditions, as long as extreme weather does not occur," Li said.

Li's experiences mirror the broader drone revolution sweeping across various sectors in China, from agriculture to infrastructure, where these devices are delivering game-changing solutions to boost efficiency and productivity.

Made-in-China drones combine affordability, quality and continuous technological advancements, driving their innovative adoption in new areas.

Deploying drones to fight desertification, for instance, is a new application scenario where China has taken the lead, according to Li, who has traveled to countries like the United States and Singapore to learn about drone applications.

In the early years, desert reclamation efforts were labor-intensive, with workers scattering plant seeds by hand across the vast, arid expanses of the desert. This method was slow, inefficient and costly, with limited coverage and uneven distribution of seeds, Li recalled.

He explained that it took three to five people to manually sow seeds on a few dozen mu (1 mu is about 0.07 hectares) per day, at a daily labor cost of around 500 yuan (about 70 U.S. dollars), whereas a single drone can cover 300 mu daily at just 6 yuan per mu, making the process three to four times more efficient than manual labor. "Drones significantly reduce costs and boost productivity, enabling large-scale desert reclamation projects on an unprecedented scale."

Li Lingling, general manager of E-Hawk, a drone manufacturer based in central China's Hubei Province, echoed this sentiment, noting that China boasts a higher UAV adoption rate than many advanced economies, thanks to its robust, well-developed industrial supply chain, which has significantly lowered production and R&D costs for Chinese drones. "Drones made in the United States are often more than three times as expensive as their Chinese counterparts."

"China's UAV market has experienced explosive growth in recent years, but before that, companies like ours had been laying the groundwork in the sector for over 10 years," Li said, noting that her company began developing drones in 2014, with a focus on the mid-sized drone market.

SETTING NEW STANDARDS

China's drone market is forecast to experience continuous growth from 2024 to 2029, surpassing 600 billion yuan by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.6 percent during this period, according to a report released by Zero Power Intelligence Group, an industry research company in China.

The expanding fleet of drones is now set to take on tasks once deemed too costly or dangerous for human workers, such as high-altitude work.

Li Lingling cited the installation of her company's gleaming metal sign as an example. The sign, made up of eight character blocks weighing several hundred kilograms, would have cost around 10,000 yuan to install with a professional rigging team. However, by deploying a self-developed heavy-lift drone, the company completed the installation at nearly zero cost.

"Drones are not just changing industries; they are changing how we live," Li Lingling said, highlighting how drones are increasingly becoming a part of daily life, revolutionizing logistics, work environments and even travel.

Li Feng, chairman of Yifei Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., a drone maker in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, aims to make drones a new standard in the millennia-old practice of animal husbandry.

Founded in 2016, the innovative company has developed two groundbreaking drone applications for husbandry. One of their most notable creations is the "cow face recognition" drone, which can accurately identify individual cows by their faces, allowing farmers to track and monitor their herds with ease.

Another product is the herding speaker drone, which can be remotely controlled to guide straying herds back into designated areas, ensuring they stay on their intended paths.

"We hope our products will help reduce the need for constant human supervision and increase the efficiency in grazing," Li Feng said.

Zigui County, renowned as the "hometown of Chinese navel oranges," now boasts a fleet of over 500 drones, which officials have hailed as a key driver of productivity in modern farming.

From pest control to harvesting, these drones have facilitated the full mechanization of agricultural operations. "Achieving mechanized farming in mountainous terrain presents significant challenges, but drone technology is making it possible," said Song Xingjian, deputy head of the county.

Looking into the future, business insiders believe clearer policy planning and continuous technological innovation will further propel the industry's growth, providing a strong foundation for breakthroughs and accelerating expansion into new frontiers.

China's low-altitude economy, comprising both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, has been gaining momentum, prompting the National Development and Reform Commission to establish a dedicated department in 2024 to support its growth.

The new department is responsible for formulating and organizing the implementation of strategic as well as mid-term and long-term development plans, providing policy recommendations, and coordinating major issues related to the low-altitude economy. CCID Consulting projects the sector will exceed 1 trillion yuan by 2026.

As artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things continue to integrate, drone performance is expected to improve, expanding their range of applications and miniaturization. These advances will make drones more compact and lightweight, boosting their potential in military, surveillance and consumer markets, said Guo Meng, an analyst with the Zero Power Intelligence Group. Enditem