Guests attend the launching ceremony of the first batch of low-altitude economy (LAE) regulatory sandbox pilot projects held in Hong Kong, south China, March 20, 2025. China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Thursday announced a list of the first batch of LAE regulatory sandbox pilot projects, aiming to inject new vitality into Hong Kong's economy through the gradual implementation of these projects. (Xinhua/Chen Duo)

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government March 20 announced a list of the first batch of low-altitude economy (LAE) regulatory sandbox pilot projects, aiming to inject new vitality into Hong Kong's economy through the gradual implementation of these projects.

Speaking at the launching ceremony held here on Thursday, John Lee, chief executive of the HKSAR, said that the LAE is one of the country's strategic emerging industries, as well as an example of exploring new quality productive forces. The LAE is set to strengthen city management and business efficiency, and create a whole new experience of smart living for the public, making it an important growth engine for the economy.

Lee said that the HKSAR government will unleash the potential of the LAE by bringing together research and development outcomes and corporate efforts, pushing forward the LAE in a safe and healthy manner to make Hong Kong a pioneer in the emerging new quality productive forces industry, creating a new era of a "smart sky."

The HKSAR government received regulatory sandbox pilot project proposals from 72 applicants, and after review by the Working Group on Developing LAE, 38 of them are among the first batch of pilot projects to be rolled out. The projects cover a wide range of fields and application scenarios, including emergency and rescue, logistics and distribution, inspection and safety maintenance, surveillance and low-altitude infrastructure.

Some of the projects will start trial operation in April, and the first phase of the trial period is 6 months.

Lee proposed in the 2024 policy address to establish the Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy, which will formulate development strategies and inter-departmental action plans, and draw up regulations and design the institutional set-up.