China test-flies biggest cargo drone as low-altitude economy takes off

China flew its biggest-yet unmanned cargo aircraft designed for civilian use, as the world's top drone-making nation steps up test flights of autonomous aerial vehicles (UAVs) that could ultimately ferry everything from takeouts to people. Packing a payload capacity of 2 metric tons, the twin-engine aircraft took off on Sunday on an inaugural flight, state media said, citing developer Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co., for a trip of about 20 minutes in southwestern Sichuan province. China's civilian drone makers are testing larger payloads as the government pushes to build a low-altitude economy, with the aviation regulator seeing a 2t yuan ($279b) industry by 2030, for a four-fold expansion from 2023. With a wingspan of 16.1 m and a height of 4.6 m, the aircraft, built entirely by government-funded Tengden, is slightly larger than the world's most popular light aircraft, the four-seat Cessna 172. Tengden's test flight followed the maiden flight in June of HH-100, a cargo drone developed by Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) with payload capacity of 700 kg and a flight radius of 520 km. Next year, AVIC plans to test its biggest cargo drone, the TP2000, which can carry up to 2 tons of cargo a distance of 2,000 km. In a report this year, the government identified the low-altitude economy as a new growth engine for the first time, with vertical mobility seen as a "new productive force" in areas such as passenger transport and cargo deliveries. In April, aviation authorities issued a production certificate to UAV maker EHang Holdings, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, for its passenger-carrying drone, China's first such document for an autonomous passenger drone.<br/>