From the popularization of consumer grade aerial photography to the explosion of industrial grade applications, the drone industry is entering a period of rapid market expansion. According to data, the global drone market is expected to reach approximately $58 billion by 2025 and is projected to increase to $125 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.7%. Among them, the growth rate of the enterprise level drone market is particularly significant, with a market size of about 32 billion US dollars in 2025 and expected to exceed 90 billion US dollars by 2030, becoming the core driving force for industry growth. Under this trend, China's drone industry is building a diversified and collaborative industrial ecosystem with the advantages of a complete industrial chain, policy support, and broad market demand, nurturing enormous economic opportunities.

Technological innovation and product iteration are the core driving forces of industrial development, and breakthroughs in core technology fields by Chinese enterprises have laid a solid foundation for industrial competitiveness. In the consumer market, companies such as DJI Innovation have consolidated their global leading position through continuous technological investment, driving China's consumer grade drones to occupy about 70% of the global market share. In the industrial market, various specialized drone products continue to emerge, with Meituan's fourth generation drone increasing its payload to 2.5kg and covering a wider distribution area with a range of 10 kilometers; Agricultural drones have achieved an upgrade from crop protection to multifunctional operations. By 2023, 35631 crop protection drones will be included in the national agricultural machinery subsidy scope. At the same time, the integration of technologies such as 5G communication, AI scheduling, and high-precision sensors with drones has further improved product performance and reduced operating costs. For example, the average cost per drone of Meituan in Shenzhen has been reduced to 3.5 yuan, which is more than 50% lower than the traditional rider mode.

Policy empowerment has cleared obstacles for industrial development and accelerated the aggregation of market factors. The Interim Regulations on the Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flights, announced by the State Council and the Central Military Commission in 2023, provide separate regulations on the scope and license requirements of agricultural drones, lowering the threshold for operators; In 2024, the low altitude economy will be included in the Government Work Report for the first time, and drones as the core carrier will receive policy support. At the local level, Shenzhen has opened up airspace below 120 meters, planned 200 takeoff and landing points, and aims to build a "low altitude logistics city" by 2025; Jinan is building a low altitude fusion perception detection experimental zone to provide security guarantees for urban low altitude applications; Nearly 30 provinces across the country have formed a policy system that fully covers segmented scenarios. The continuous implementation of policies not only reduces the costs of airspace coordination and operational approval for enterprises, but also guides the concentration of capital, technology and other factors in the drone industry.

The continuous improvement and cross-border integration of the industrial chain have further amplified the economic value of the industry. China has formed a complete industrial chain of unmanned aerial vehicle design, research and development, production, and operation services, with upstream core component manufacturing, midstream whole machine production, and downstream scenario application coordinated development. At the same time, there is a clear trend of cross-border integration of "drones+", and new formats such as "drones+logistics", "drones+agriculture", and "drones+cultural tourism" continue to emerge, driving the development of related industries upstream and downstream. For example, drone delivery has not only activated the low altitude logistics market, but also promoted the development of supporting industries such as takeoff and landing point construction, intelligent scheduling systems, and battery recycling; The popularization of agricultural drones has driven the growth of related fields such as specialized pesticides and remote sensing data services.