On November 28, 2024, amidst China’s economic downturn and local fiscal tightness, Pingyin County in Shandong Province sold the “low-altitude economic operation rights” for over 900 million yuan, sparking concerns among logistics companies about paying tolls for air routes. Official media also raised questions about whether local authorities have the right to buy and sell the sky, leading to heated discussions among netizens on the new revenue collection method of local CCP authorities.
According to a report by mainland China’s “First Financial” on November 27, the Jinan Public Resource Trading Center website disclosed that Pingyin County, Jinan City, Shandong Province, publicly auctioned the 30-year franchise of low-altitude economy, with a newly registered state-owned sole proprietorship company winning the bid with a price exceeding 900 million yuan.
A screenshot circulated online shows the winning announcement for the Pingyin County low-altitude economic franchise auction posted on the Jinan Public Resource Trading Center website, with the winning date listed as November 26, 2024. The winning bidder was Shandong Jinyutong General Aviation Co., Ltd., with a bid amount of 924,011,000.00 yuan.
On November 5, the website posted a bidding notice for the “Pingyin County Low Altitude Economic Franchise Project,” with the Pingyin County Development and Reform Bureau as the bidding unit. The project overview stated that it involves the transfer of the 30-year franchise of Pingyin County’s low-altitude economy, where the franchisee is responsible for operating and maintaining the low-altitude economy, providing flight licensing and training services. The estimated investment for the project was 9.24 billion yuan.
Currently, searches for the “Pingyin County Low-altitude Economic Franchise Project” on the Jinan Public Resource Trading Center website show that the related announcement pages are no longer available. The responsible person in Pingyin County has not responded to mainland media inquiries about the reasons for the unavailability of the project announcement.
According to public data from Tianyancha, the winning bidder, Shandong Jinyutong General Aviation Co., Ltd., is a state-owned sole proprietorship enterprise wholly owned by the Pingyin County Finance Bureau, with a registered capital of 200 million yuan. The company was established on November 5, the same day the bidding announcement was made.
Official CCP media reports indicate that this marks the country’s first case of low-altitude economic franchise landing.
As reported by official media, “low-altitude” refers to the airspace below 1,000 meters vertically, extending to not more than 3,000 meters based on actual needs. “Low-altitude economy” involves activities such as civil manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, passenger and cargo low-altitude flights, low-altitude infrastructure, low-altitude aircraft manufacturing, low-altitude operational services, and low-altitude flight support.
Public information shows that Pingyin County has two airports, Pingyin Yushan Airport and Pingyin Xiaozhi General Airport.
Previously, Shandong official media reported that local authorities issued documents this year proclaiming the development of the “low-altitude economy” to strive for a “leading position nationwide.”
According to reports by Yicai, industry insiders experimenting with drone deliveries are concerned about toll payments: would they need to pay tolls for future drone deliveries in the area? And what criteria would determine the fees?
Daily Economic News quoted CCP official experts stating that airspace is a central government matter, not a local government matter, and local authorities do not have the power to auction airspace.
On overseas X platform, netizens discussed how the CCP, after the collapse of “land finance,” is exploring “new revenue channels.”
“After selling all the land, local governments begin to sell the sky! What isn’t controlled by the Communist Party? What can’t be sold for money? Leshan sells the Giant Buddha, Henan sells rainwater, Shandong sells the sky – isn’t the shameless face of the CCP robbing and selling akin to traitors to the nation? Who are the traitors? Is it the ordinary people just speaking up?”
“Having exhausted land resources for sale, CCP officials pay themselves salaries and benefits. These communists.”
Some netizens mentioned how the CCP monopolizes all resources in the name of the state, with even the sold commodity houses having only 70 years of property rights, making a similar point about the situation.