For industrial aviation park, the opportunities are sky high

Collective Wisdom Technology Co, a Zhuhai unmanned aerial vehicle maker, attends an exhibition. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Business startups have benefited immensely from the strong support of the Zhuhai Aviation Industrial Park, the only one of its kind in Guangdong province, according to local officials.

One shining example is Collective Wisdom Technology, a company manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which was set up in the park in 2016.

"The park has a decade of operational experience and has preferential policies and mechanisms," said Wang Gang, deputy general manager of the company, adding it has provided invaluable incentives and assistance to support the company's development.

Wang said Collective Wisdom independently develops UAVs that run on aviation fuel rather than batteries, which requires more technological and financial support. The park provided more than 5 million yuan ($719,079) in grants over the past two years, according to Wang.

Yang Huabing, Party secretary of the park, said that the park has been focusing on developing industrial drones, aiming to build the park up as an important hub for the industry.

In recent years, the park has initiated a series of policies to facilitate the development of high-tech industries and ramped up its efforts in developing the UAVs for industrial purposes, leveraging its experience in the aerospace sector.

In July, the park added another 20 square kilometers area for drone test flights, which complete the airspace requirements, after initial research and development of the UAVs.

"The UAV industry is a sector that represents the development of military and civilian integration," Yang said.

The sector involves high-tech industries that produce artificial intelligence sensors, intelligent controls and aerodynamics, he said.

In addition to the drones' development, the park is also accelerating the development of general aviation and support service industries in a bid to develop a high-level industrial system, Yang said. He added that the industrial system will incorporate research and development, design, maintenance and modern services, thus building a demonstration park for the aviation industry.

The park will aim to establish a bonded logistics department to introduce more international top aviation industry projects, and so create a better environment for the bonded processing, airport logistics and aviation operation service industries, Yang said.

Located in Jinwan district in the Pearl River Delta, the park covers an area of 99 sq km and serves businesses in the aviation sector, in the fields of manufacturing, operations and processing.