Abstract.  Development of civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the first quarter of the 21st century is analyzed. Particular attention is paid to electric propulsion in aircraft designed for passenger transportation in urban environments, in accordance with the Low Altitude Economy (LAE) development program. Potential capabilities and practical steps of leading innovative entities in the People’s Republic of China aimed at achieving global leadership in the LAE sector by 2030 are examined, thereby ensuring a dominant role in the formation of a new global techno-economic paradigm. Activities of EHang, a private company that became the first in the world to receive a production certificate for serial production of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs for urban air mobility (UAM), often-though somewhat inaccurately-referred to as unmanned air taxis, are analyzed in detail. Design evolution is traced from the Ghost quadcopter (the world’s first lightweight smartphone-controlled UAV) to the production single-seat EHang 116 and two-seat EHang 216 models. Technical specifications of all UAVs mentioned are presented and evaluated. Time stages of the formation of unmanned aviation for domestic air mobility in China are identified at a systemic level. The role of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and relevant state authorities in the development and manufacturing organization of unmanned systems for UAM is reflected. Potential for international cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China in local air mobility using unmanned transport is considered. Specifically, at the initial stage of interaction, the possibility of conducting joint R&D between the Ustinov Baltic State Technical University “VOENMEH” (Russia) and the recently established Joint Institute for Low Altitude Aviation Technology (JILAAT) (China) is proposed, aiming at the redesign of the EH216-S multicopter into a flying stretcher for rescue operations. 

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles, CAAC, EHang, Guinness Book of Records, quadcopter, serial production 

For citation: Vashchenko А. N., Grigoriev M. N. Analysis of development processes and manufacturing organization for unmanned vehicles in urban air mobility: the case of the People’s Republic of China and prospects for Russian-Chinese cooperation (Review). Aerospace Engineering and Technology. 2026. Vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 296–314. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.52467/2949-401X-2026-4-2-296-314; https://elibrary.ru/wbndqc 

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