China still leads AAM advancement in cargo sector

China still leads the world in the advanced air mobility sector as the country remains committed to using renewable energy to develop new technology, according to speakers at Cargo Facts Asia 2026 in Shanghai last week. “From the government policy point of view, China now has already raised the low-altitude economy for three consecutive years, and this has also been listed as a prioritized industry,” Kellen Xie, senior vice president of global sales and business development at AutoFlight, said during an AAM discussion at the conference. [caption id="attachment_57296163" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Patrick Buckles of Beta, left; Yanxiang Kang of AirWhiteWhale, center; and Kellen Xie of AutoFlight, right, speaking at Cargo Facts Asia 2026. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] AutoFlight, which has dual headquarters in Shanghai and Augsburg, Germany, demonstrated its 5-tonne V5000 Matrix in February. It obtained an airworthiness certificate for its smaller cargo eVTOL model, the CarryAll, from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in July 2025. Low-altitude economy China’s low-altitude economy initiative, which was launched in 2024, is intended to advance the infrastructure and development of AAM while enabling the CAAC to reduce restrictions on flight operations in low-altitude airspace, according to a March 25, 2025, post on the state-sponsored China Economic Net. The low-altitude economy is one of China’s key industries for development, with room for growth given the limited volume of general aviation traffic operating at 1,000 feet to 3,000 feet, Xie said. The market potential is a greater driver for the program than tech development, AirWhiteWhale Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Yanxiang Kang said during the discussion. To support China’s vision for expanding its UAV market growth, AirWhiteWhale unveiled its W5000 uncrewed cargo aircraft prototype in October 2024. “China’s aviation industry is not so material and not as good as the U.S,” Kang said. “But, especially in the e-commerce and express delivery industry, China’s market size is several times that of the U.S. and several times larger than other countries, so that is a big driving factor.” SF Express was one of the Chinese carriers interested in autonomous cargo aircraft, even before the low-altitude economy was introduced, to reduce costs, Kang said. Global AAM drive Beta Technologies Regional Head of Sales Patrick Buckles agreed that China has benefited from making AAM a national priority and is encouraged by the actions taken by other countries to accelerate the development of crewed and uncrewed eVTOL vehicles. “In the recent case of the U.S., they selected eight programs for which they're going to start allowing commercial operations of these aircraft this year,” Buckles said. “We’re very proud that Beta is in seven of those eight programs that will start flying real commercial revenue-generating missions.” Launching the evaluation of AAM vehicles in U.S. airspace supports the country's commitment to becoming a global leader in the sector , U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a Dec. 17 news conference. Beta, an electric aircraft manufacturer based in South Burlington, Vt., recently coordinated with the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, Scotland-based Loganair and the Royal Mail to fly twenty-three demonstration flights in ten days with one of its Alia conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) aircraft (BT31C-0002), according to its March 31 LinkedIn post. Beta is also flying its Alia CTOL tech demonstrator in New Zealand to help Air New Zealand get acclimated to operating the vehicle. Beta also delivered an Alia CTOL to Houston-based Bristow Group in August 2025 in support of Norway’s first advanced air mobility test arena . Even though China has taken significant steps to develop AAM technology, the industry is years away from integrating these vehicles into commercial airspace, Kang said. “In China and in other countries, they need some time. They need a trial operation at a certain level to demonstrate the performance,” he added. “Then, gradually, for example, in three to five years, when they understand that [AAM vehicles] can operate at the same level [as conventional aircraft], they can accept them.” See Cargo Facts’ coverage of Cargo Facts Asia 2026 . The inaugural Cargo Facts Routes and Airport Conference will take place April 27-28 in Brussels at the Marriott Hotel Grand Place, along with Cargo Facts EMEA 2026, taking place April 28-30. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

China still leads AAM advancement in cargo sector

Cargo Facts Asia 2026

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