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China's domestically developed AS700 civil manned airship completes a flight in Yuecheng district, Shaoxing, December 2024. [Photo/Tide News]

Yuecheng district in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province, is positioning itself as a national demonstration zone for the integration of artificial intelligence with the low-altitude economy.

Integrated circuits and the low-altitude economy are Yuecheng's two pillar industries and form the foundation for its AI expansion. In recent years, local authorities have leveraged the district's established semiconductor base to guide enterprises toward AI chip development.

Official data show that in the first half of 2025, the value added by Yuecheng's strategic emerging industries rose by 27.6 percent year-on-year, while value added by core sectors of the digital economy grew by 28.0 percent.

At the same time, Yuecheng has focused on building a complete low-altitude industrial chain covering aircraft manufacturing, components, and systems. To date, the district has introduced or initiated 27 major projects in this sector. The annual output value of large-scale low-altitude enterprises in the district is expected to exceed 4 billion yuan ($550 million).

Yuecheng is also piloting low-altitude logistics. The district launched Zhejiang's first integrated land-air logistics demonstration zone, including Shaoxing's first cross-regional medical flight route and the province's first regular urban low-altitude logistics line.

In the low-altitude tourism sector, Yuecheng opened Zhejiang's first regular passenger air route between Shaoxing and Shanghai's Pudong New Area. In governance, AI-powered unmanned aerial systems are being applied in scenarios such as illegal construction detection, site supervision, water pollution monitoring, and emergency response.