China says it has an unmanned cargo plane that can carry 4,400 pounds

CCTV wrote in its report that it “is the largest domestically produced large-scale unmanned transport aircraft currently developed in China.”

Developed by state-funded drone manufacturing company Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co, the new plane is a step forward in the country’s “low-altitude economy” progress. This refers to economic activities that take place in airspace 0.6 miles above the earth’s surface, according to the South China Morning Post.

Drones and flying taxis, which are categorized under the term unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are included in this “low-altitude economy,” which is expected to be worth $279 billion by 2030, according to Reuters .

As of June this year, there were 1.87 million UAVs registered in China, SCMP reported, citing data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The new cargo plane test comes as China has already begun commercial deliveries of drones.

In April, SCMP reported that drone company Phoenix Wings started a commercial cargo drone route to expedite cargo deliveries between Shenzhen and Zhongshan in southeast China, a 43-mile stretch.

The low-cost delivery service is priced at $5.60 per order and can be completed in 45 minutes, cutting delivery time by nearly an hour, the store reported.

Meanwhile, helicopter taxis are becoming a thing in China. Reuters reported that a commercial passenger helicopter took its first flight from Kunshun, a city in Jiangsu province, to Shanghai Pudong Airport on Saturday. It reduced travel time from several hours to just 20 minutes, for each outlet.