(China Daily) EHang Holdings Ltd, a Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle technology platform company, is ratcheting up efforts to bolster commercial operation of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in the fields of aerial tourism, passenger transportation and logistics.

The company recently inked a strategic partnership with the Hefei municipal government in East China's Anhui province to jointly develop a low-altitude economy ecosystem in Hefei.

EHang will launch the regular operation of its unmanned aerial vehicles in Luogang Central Park in Hefei. The Hefei municipal government plans to provide EHang with $100 million-worth support for coordinating or facilitating purchase orders of no less than 100 units of the EH216 series of UAVs and financing aid, the company said.

EHang intends to set up its regional headquarters in Hefei to promote UAV production, sales and operations, and accelerate the adoption of urban air mobility in the area.

The move came after EHang announced on Oct 13 that its self-developed passenger-carrying UAV EH216-S had obtained the world's first type of certificate officially issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

This demonstrates that the EH216-S model design fully complies with the CAAC's safety standards and airworthiness requirements, and that its two-seater air taxi is qualified for conducting passenger-carrying UAV commercial operations.

As the world's first certification for unmanned eVTOL, the EH216-S not only sets a benchmark for the airworthiness certification of innovative eVTOLs in China and overseas, but is also a milestone for commercial operations of urban air mobility, the company said.

Hu Huazhi, founder, chairman and CEO of EHang, said they will launch commercial operations of the EH216-S passenger-carrying UAV system, prioritizing safety above all.

Autonomous passenger-carrying air taxis have the power to transform everyday life in urban areas since they reduce pollution, expedite emergency services and can save individuals and businesses time and money with shorter travel times, he added.

The Guangzhou, Guangdong province-based company has launched an initiative to develop 100 air mobility routes with a focus on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the initial stage and plans to gradually expand to other parts of the country.

Four ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology, recently released a development plan for a green aviation manufacturing industry between 2023 and 2035, aiming to put eVTOL aircraft into pilot operations by 2025.

Experts said UAVs have a wide range of applications, covering areas such as manned transportation, aerial tourism, aerial logistics, medical emergency response and fire rescue.

Global consultancy Roland Berger estimates there will be up to 3,000 air taxis in operation by 2025 globally, and this figure will increase exponentially to 100,000 by 2050. But several technological, infrastructural and legal hurdles remain.

Yu Zhanfu, a partner at Roland Berger, said the eVTOL aircraft needs to go through full verification regarding safety and technological stability in sparsely populated areas or scenarios, such as natural landscape tourist destinations, in the early stages, before they can truly enter the urban air mobility segment.

Compared with traditional helicopters, eVTOL aircraft are smaller, lighter and require less space for takeoffs and landings, with lower operating costs — all of which will give a big boost to their popularity, Yu said. However, they still face technical challenges and uncertainties in various weather and geological conditions.

EHang is also ramping up efforts to expand its footprint in overseas markets. In February, the company announced that its EH216 passenger-grade AAV had completed its first passenger-carrying autonomous flight demonstration in Japan, which also marked the first passenger-carrying flight for an autonomous eVTOL aircraft in the country.

Source: By Fan Feifei | China Daily | Updated: 2023-11-13 10:09

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(Global Times) Responding to TikTok resuming service in the US as well as the proposed deal by President-elect Donald Trump that would give the US a 50 percent stake in a joint venture of the company, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that China hopes the US will seriously listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market participants from various countries in the US.

TikTok has been operating in the US for many years and is very popular among American users, adding that the app has played a positive role in boosting employment and consumption in the US.

(China Daily) A seminar on education planning and governance in the intelligent era concluded on Sunday, launching the Lab of AI Governance and Planning in Education and its first result — Education Policy and Planning AI Agents, according to the organizers.

(Xinhua) The Biden administration's new export controls on artificial intelligence (AI) models and advanced chips faced mounting criticism from industry experts, who worry such controls will impede global AI development.

After the administration unveiled the framework on Monday, the U.S.

(China Daily) Washington should take seriously Beijing's concerns about US cyberattacks on China, and Beijing is also willing to build a cyber relationship with the US featuring peace, stability and mutual respect through dialogue, a senior Chinese diplomat said.

Wang Lei, the Foreign Ministry's coordinator for cyber and digital affairs, made the comments at a time when cyberspace security has become a hot issue in China-US ties.

(Xinhua) Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer Li Auto on Friday inaugurated its first overseas research and development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, in a milestone move signaling deepening ties between China and Germany in the burgeoning NEV sector.

(Xinhua) China on Monday launched a CERES-1 carrier rocket with five satellites onboard.

The rocket blasted off at 6:11 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and sent a group of satellites, including the Yunyao-1 37-40 and JTX-A-05 models, into their planned orbits.

(Xinhua) China successfully completed three ignition tests for liquid oxygen-kerosene engines on Sunday, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). 

This marks the first time that the country has conducted three ignition tests on two types of liquid oxygen-kerosene engines within a single day.

(AP) TikTok restored service to users in the United States on Sunday just hours after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a federal ban, which President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to pause by executive order on his first day in office.

Trump said he planned to issue the order to give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the ban takes full effect. He announced the move on his Truth Social account as millions of U.S.

(Xinhua) The popular video-sharing app TikTok went dark late Saturday in the United States.

TikTok users in the country were greeted with a message that read: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now."

"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now," read the message, adding: "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"

U.S.

(AP) The possibility of the U.S. outlawing TikTok kept influencers and users in anxious limbo during the four-plus years that lawmakers and judges debated the fate of the video-sharing app. Now, the moment its fans dreaded is here, but uncertainty over TikTok’s future lingers.

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law that bans the immensely popular, trend-setting social media platform starting Sunday unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance Ltd., sells to an approved buyer.
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