Having long propelled China’s economic ascent, major provincial-level regions are now leading the charge in the country’s transformative shift toward high-quality development. China’s top 10 provincial economic heavyweights, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and Sichuan, accounted for over 60 percent of the country’s GDP, despite covering less than 20 percent of its land area. Their development is redefining China’s economic landscape and providing insights into how the world’s second-largest economy navigates domestic and global challenges in the final year of…

All-round and historic progress has been made in the human rights cause in China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, according to a white paper released on Friday. The document, titled “Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era,” was released by the State Council Information Office at a press conference held in Lhasa, capital city of the region. The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government have implemented effective measures to develop the economy, improve living standards and people’s well-being,…

China has been and will remain an ideal, secure, and promising destination for foreign investors, Chinese President Xi Jinping said while meeting with representatives of the international business community in Beijing on Friday. Xi pointed out that the country, which is on a Chinese path to modernization in all respects, has been a major contributor to and anchor of stability for global growth for many years. Committed to the fundamental national policy of opening up to the world, China is…

Propelled by the synergy of policy, technology, and market demand, the low-altitude economy has emerged as a powerful driver of high-quality development in China. This burgeoning sector is reshaping traditional industries while forging new strategic pathways for China to excel in the global competitive arena.  In recent years, the sector has experienced rapid expansion. By 2023, China’s low-altitude economy surpassed 500 billion yuan ($68.6 billion), with an annual growth rate of 33.8 percent, according to the China Centre for Information…

As an economic concept, the low-altitude economy aims to utilise the unique resources of low-altitude airspace in a bid to develop general aviation or civilian non-airline flight, and energise the related industries from the sky to the ground.  The concept of low-altitude economy was first proposed by China, providing a theoretical contribution to the development of global general aviation. A common understanding is that low-altitude airspace is an equally important economic resource and engine of productivity as land and marine…

Volocopter, a pioneering German company in the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft sector, recently filed for bankruptcy, drawing significant international attention. Founded in 2011, Volocopter was hailed as a leader in the emerging air taxi industry, benefitting from technological breakthroughs and substantial international investment.  The reasons for Volocopter’s collapse, analysts suggest, include a lack of funding, cumbersome regulatory processes, and insufficient policy support. This bankruptcy underscores the ongoing problems in the eVTOL industry, which still faces challenges of…

During the 2025 Spring Festival Gala broadcast on 28 January, the V2000CG CarryAll, a cutting-edge 2-tonne electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developed by AutoFlight, took off against the dazzling nightscape of Chongqing in southwest China. The aircraft joined singers and dancers in a mesmerising performance, adding a touch of futurism to the traditional festivity.  Soon, such visionary moments will step out of the television and become part of the real lives of ordinary people. On 24 December 2024,…

At Shenzhen’s renowned theme park, Window of the World, drones illuminated the night sky alongside fireworks during the Spring Festival holiday, creating a breathtaking sight. In Longgang District’s central area, citizens enjoyed panoramic views of the city from above through helicopter rides. Meanwhile, in Dapeng New District, low-altitude rescue aircraft remained on standby 24/7 to ensure the safety of hikers in the mountains.  General aviation – the backbone of the low-altitude economy – is transforming life in Shenzhen. In airspace…

Beautiful China is not just a trendy term or catchy slogan designed to highlight China’s charm; it is a key goal in China’s development strategy. In 2015, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China introduced the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development to build a beautiful China. The five aspects were elaborated in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). Beautiful China is a concept guided by green development, centred on…

Outside the dust and smoke of the fiery encounter US President Donald Trump and Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky had in the Oval Office, which has unavoidably been serially screened on TV and reflected in newspaper headlines, is a revolution that most miss of what is happening in America. Predictably, most readers of this diplomacy failure or lapse out of this Trump-Zelensky encounter have primarily apportioned it to rude Trump and cast him as having lost the manners of the Presidency to…