Xpeng Aeroht's land-air split-type flying car, the "Land Aircraft Carrier," consists of a ground vehicle, referred to as the "mother ship," and a flying module. Photo: Courtesy of Xpeng Aeroht

"I came across drone photography by chance," said a drone photographer with 11 years of experience.

Liu Supei, the photographer, majoring in environmental art design, has been involved in environmental and landscape photography after graduating from a university based in Xi'an city, northwestern China.

By chance, a project required drone photography, which made him to switch his career. Liu said his workload grew rapidly in the project, peaking before the pandemic.

At present, Liu owns his own studio and at the same time serves as the head of a drone imaging workshop at a university.

'1 million jobs'

As drones are increasingly becoming more common in daily life, new drone-related jobs are continuously emerging, such as drone assembly engineers, maintenance technicians and drone pilots. Particularly with the rise of the low-altitude economy in China, demand for talent is growing rapidly.

Technological progress not only drives economic transformation and industrial upgrading but also boosts many new professions and job opportunities. For instance, the booming low-altitude economy has led to the creation of a new role of drone piloting, Li Chunlin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference on October 8.

According to estimates from relevant government agencies, there is currently a talent gap of 1 million for drone pilots in China, Li said.

Since the start of 2024, there has been an apparent acceleration in the low-altitude economy in China. As this new sector spans a wide range of industries and has a long supply chain, the overall demand for specialized and interdisciplinary talent has become more apparent. 

As a result, the country's education sector needs to take action and address the supply challenge. Naturally, universities across China are competing to offer programs related to the low-altitude economy, while vocational schools are expanding on their existing drone operation courses to train professionals that align with labor market needs.

Not only universities but also an increasing number of parents are encouraging their children to learn drone-related skills. 

Wang Zheng, a teacher from a drone-flying educational institute, told the Global Times on Monday that more students are highly interested to be enrolled in the new major, and on the other hand, parents view the emerging sector as a valuable skill-building opportunity for their children. 

"Since the end of the pandemic, our enrolments have grown up rapidly," Wang said.

The low-altitude economy encompasses industries operating in airspace below 1,000 meters. This includes not only traditional general aviation but also drone applications, eVTOLs, aviation education and training. With China actively advancing the development of the low-altitude economy, the market is anticipated to expand rapidly, resulting in a substantial increase in talent demand, Zhao Deli, the founder of Xpeng Aeroht, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"Although our team is currently the largest in the flying vehicle industry, there remains a rising demand for talent, particularly in fields such as system integration, power supplying, flight control systems, manufacturing processes, pilot testing, scenario operations, and aircraft maintenance," Zhao said.

Policy support

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the scale of China's low-altitude economy as of the end of 2023 was estimated at approximately 500 billion yuan ($70.23 billion), with its market scale expected to rise to more than 2 trillion yuan by 2030.

Since the beginning of this year, with the low-altitude economy being mentioned in the State Council's Government Work Report for the first time, the industry has accelerated its development pace. 

Multiple provinces and regions have gradually introduced their development plans, clarifying industry goals and development pathways. Talent cultivation has been prioritized in their plans.

On September 30, the capital city of Beijing released its Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy Industry (2024 - 2027), proposing to leverage Beijing's resources in education, talent, finance and data to support the industrial development of low-altitude science education, talent training, financing, and data service.

The city aims to promote the readiness of rescue aircraft and the professional training of rescue personnel needed by low-altitude sector development. Local districts are encouraged to introduce policies and measures to increase investment in sector such as financing, land allocation, talent cultivation, and airspace utilization.

And, other provinces and cities are also stepping up efforts to deepen school-enterprise cooperation, providing strong talent support for the new industry.

Wang Hongquan, marketing director of a drone licensing school branch in Guangzhou city, South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times on Monday that they have established partnerships with multiple universities to offer certification training in drone operation for their students, as well as providing follow-up employment assistance.

Zhao also suggested that governments should consider rolling out detailed measures on preferential housing supply for talent, residency permits, and tax incentives for skilled professionals.

Additionally, comparable incentive policies could be introduced to attract more overseas aviation talent to China. "We have already noticed that Guangzhou is ramping up its support for talent to nurture the new sector's growth," Zhao said.