Comparative Study of US–China Low-Altitude Economy Development: Global Supply Chain Realities and Strategic Breakthroughs

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jnme.202610411

Author(s)

Shengchang Zhang1,*, Fred Zhang2

Affiliation(s)

1School of Business Administration, Baise University, Baise, Guangxi, China 2Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, California, USA *Corresponding Author

Abstract

The paper will discuss the different development patterns of the low-altitude economy (LAE) in the United States and China and will evaluate the implications of the patterns on global supply-chain resilience. Conventional multinational systems of production have been based traditionally on centralized maritime routes and large-scale surface-transport centers. A cross-section of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), electric vertical takeoff and landings (eVTOL) aircraft, low-altitude integrated intelligence networks, and algorithmic airspace management is starting to compress time and distance in spatial logistics. The research is based on a multi-vector, cost-optimization and capital-velocity model, which compares the infrastructure-first, scenario-driven model used in China with the innovation-driven, regulation-intensive, and private-capital model used in the United States. Low-altitude logistics, the analysis reveals, is able to avoid the old-fashioned bottlenecks, reduces the logistics chains across various levels, and promotes localized and agile micro-hubs. The results imply that the structural vulnerabilities in world supply chains can be addressed by strategic use of low-altitude transport and enhance sovereign industrial resiliency. There are more macroeconomic, geopolitical, and institutional implications which are discussed in detail.

Keywords

Low-Altitude Economy; US–China Comparison; Global Supply Chain; Unmanned Aerial Logistics; eVTOL Networks; Supply Chain Resilience; Vertiport Infrastructure; Capital Velocity

References

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