China drone roundup: military supplier AVIC soars while EHang stalls
A June incident at Beijing's tallest building could be behind a reported slowdown in approvals for passenger drones.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT, 工业和信息化部) picked nine companies and three industrial parks last month as candidates for national demonstration bases for what its list calls low-altitude equipment (低空装备). Filings from three of the listed firms show a military drone maker's revenue more than tripling, while passenger drones wait on cautious regulators.
It is part of the ministry's first list of emerging-industry base candidates. At the end of the candidacy period, MIIT evaluates the candidates and names those that pass as bases, it said in a Sept. 18 notice. The three parks are the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area, Chengdu's Qingyang Economic Development Zone (四川成都青羊经济开发区) and the Jingdezhen High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (景德镇高新技术产业开发区), in Jiangxi province.
The biggest gain is at Chengdu-based AVIC (Chengdu) UAS (中航（成都）无人机系统股份有限公司), a unit of state-owned AVIC and maker of the Wing Loong drones. Its revenue rose 272.48% to 1.6 billion yuan (about US$229 million) in the first half, mainly because it delivered more products under its contracts, its half-year report said. It sells abroad through licensed military-export companies and at home on its own. It names China's defense modernization, and regional conflicts abroad, as its demand drivers.
Chengdu-based industrial-drone maker JOUAV (成都纵横自动化技术股份有限公司) said its first-half revenue rose 31.22% to 176.7 million yuan (about US$24.7 million), which it credited to opportunities in the low-altitude economy, in its half-year report. Its customers include state-owned firms, government agencies and universities, which generally take delivery at year-end, so most of its sales come in the second half.
Did skyscraper crash slow drone approvals?
Meanwhile, passenger drones are stalling. Guangzhou-based EHang (亿航智能设备有限公司) delivered 36 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the second quarter, up from four in the first quarter but down from 52 a year earlier, it said in its Aug. 25 results. It withdrew its 2026 revenue guidance of 600 million yuan (about US$84 million).
EHang said a major accident involving a piloted light-sport aircraft in China in late June had affected the pace of approvals for passenger commercial operations in some regions. EHang didn’t name the accident, but on June 26 a light-sport aircraft crashed into CITIC Tower, Beijing’s tallest building, killing the pilot.
Sources: 工业和信息化部 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), notice 工信部规函〔2026〕314号, MIIT, attachment 1 (park list, PDF), MIIT, attachment 2 (company list, PDF), 中航（成都）无人机 AVIC (Chengdu) UAS, 2026 half-year report (cninfo), EHang Holdings, Q2 2026 results release, 纵横股份 Chengdu JOUAV Automation Tech, 2026 half-year report (cninfo), 亿航智能 EHang (EH216-S product page)
Editor: Ian Lamont
