DJI, the world’s biggest maker of consumer drones, intends to build a new global headquarters for its intelligent aviation systems operation in its home city of Shenzhen, according to a plan released recently by the southern tech hub‘s municipal government. The plan involves DJI’s acquisition of a 15,658-square-metre plot inside the Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base, a waterfront business and financial centre under development in the city’s Nanshan district. The project’s total construction area of 188,000 square metres, will contain research and development (R&D), management, demonstration and other facilities, according to the plan.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. DJI becoming an anchor enterprise at Shenzhen’s 117-hectare Super Headquarters Base reflects the municipal government’s efforts to boost development of the low-altitude economy in the city, also known as China’s “drone capital. The DJI project’s land use term will be for 30 years, and the office space can only be used by the company and its subsidiaries, according to the plan. The low-altitude economy generally encompasses manned and unmanned activities within airspace below 1,000 metres (3,280 feet), where vertical take-off and landing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles are used for tasks such as passenger transport and cargo delivery.
The scale of China’s low-altitude economy was estimated at more than 500 billion yuan (US$68.5 billion) in 2023 and is expected to reach 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to a report by Xinhua. Shenzhen has been one of the most ambitious in developing the low-altitude economy. The city introduced the country’s first regulations for this economic model in February. In November, the city pledged to invest 12 billion yuan in infrastructure for the low-altitude economy over the next two years, with an eye to lead in the deployment of flying taxis and delivery drones.
DJI’s current headquarters, dubbed “Sky City”, has been a landmark in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district since it opened in 2022. The 105-metre-high twin towers, connected by a 90-metre-long suspension skybridge, currently serve as the company’s R&D base. The company, however, continues to fight allegations of military links, which have resulted in US sanctions. In October, DJI filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense over its inclusion in a list of companies working with Beijing’s military. DJI said the designation was wrong and has caused significant financial harm. The Pentagon blacklisted DJI in 2022 to highlight and counter [China’s] military-civil fusion strategy, which supports the modernisation goals of the People’s Liberation Army.
