Take Me Down To The UAV City

This article is one of the first dispatches from my trip to Shenzhen China. I’ll be getting more into overall impressions and take-away in later pieces, but this article is for some information on the scale and pace of Chinese investment in Unmanned Aircraft.

The pictures and PDF visually speak for themselves, and some of the information is conveniently in English. The facts and figures listed are from my attendance at the presentation and invite to Guangdong.

The numbers –

This project represents a scientific and development strategy investment of 10 billion RNB, which converts to around 1.5 Billion USD.

The project has a total of 280,000 square meters of space that includes a conference center, R&D, manufacturing, living accommodations and the ever important financing. UAV City has access to transportation including high-speed rail, and they reckon the investment will produce 10,000 STEM jobs in aviation.    

I’ve already heard the “I’ve seen pictures from China before” “ China ghost city” and a few other heads in the sand comments. However, the ribbon is cut and ground has been broken on this project. When I ask for a timeline, I hear “Shenzhen Speed.”  I have requested that they send updates and we will post and share here at the sUAS News as they become available.