SHANGHAI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shanghai has set up a special committee on low-altitude radio spectrum safety to safeguard the sound development of its low-altitude economy.

According to a Xinmin Evening News report on Thursday, the committee will work with two working groups, with one group focusing on low-altitude electromagnetic safety research and testing and the other group concentrating on low-altitude drone cluster performance radio technology, with the aim to ensure proper use and protection of spectrum resources, achieve secure communication among low-altitude flying vehicles, and explore application scenarios of Shanghai's low-altitude economy.

Low-altitude industries are becoming an important engine to promote economic growth, sci-tech innovation and urban digital transformation. At the end of 2024, Shanghai launched a guideline on speeding up the high-quality development of radio enabling industries, saying that the city will focus on cutting-edge fields such as 6G technology, satellite internet and the low-altitude economy.

In 2024, a low-altitude company named Vertaxi in Shanghai witnessed a three-fold year-on-year revenue increase in its small and medium-sized industrial drone business. Company Vice President Sheng Liang said there was an urgent need to build an efficient and safe low-altitude intelligent network, in which radio technology played a key role.

The company will drive innovation in low-altitude communication, navigation and positioning, as well as data transmission through the research and development of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology, in order to enhance the secure application of the radio spectrum.

The committee is composed of representatives from 36 enterprises and institutions from across the city -- covering networks, terminals, solutions, application scenarios and regulation in the low-altitude domain.

It will deal with issues such as monitoring, identification and interference protection of flying vehicles, the news report said.

The low-altitude economy in China has flourished in recent years, with an increase in drone manufacturers and expanded applications. The Civil Aviation Administration of China estimates that the country's low-altitude market will soar from 500 billion yuan (about 69 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023 to 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025 -- and as much as 3.5 trillion yuan in 2035.