GUANGZHOU, China, Dec. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EHang Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: EH) ("EHang" or the “Company"), the world’s leading Urban Air Mobility (“UAM”) technology platform company, announced a strategic partnership with the People’s Government of Fangshan District, Beijing ("Fangshan District Government"). Together, the two parties aim to advance the low-altitude emergency rescue sector by establishing EHang’s national headquarters for low-altitude emergency rescue equipment in Fangshan District, Beijing with top-level mapping of its multiple application scenarios and complete industrial chain. This initiative seeks to position the area as a hub for the low-altitude emergency rescue industry and a pilot demonstration zone for related new technologies, products and scenarios, fostering an innovative model for "low-altitude + emergency" industrial ecosystem.
Image: EHang and the Beijing Fangshan District Government signing the strategic cooperation agreement
Image: The opening ceremony of the Beijing Low-Altitude Safety Emergency Industrial Park and the comprehensive exercise of general aviation emergency rescue
On December 25, the Beijing Low-Altitude Safety Emergency Industrial Park was inaugurated in Beijing Fangshan District, accompanied by a comprehensive exercise of general aviation emergency rescue. During the event, EHang reached a strategic partnership agreement with Fangshan District Government. The ceremony was attended by distinguished guests, including representatives from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (“CAAC”), Chinese Academy of Engineering (“CAE”), Department of Science and Technology and Informatization of the Ministry of Emergency Management, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Beijing Municipal Emergency Management Bureau and Fangshan District Government of Beijing. Also present were EHang's Huazhi Hu, Founder, Chairman, and CEO; Zhao Wang, Chief Operating Officer, and Conor Yang, Chief Financial Officer.
According to the agreement, EHang will locate its National Headquarters for Low-Altitude Emergency Rescue Equipment in Fangshan District, Beijing, for emergency rescue operation business. The Fangshan District Government will actively coordinate industrial funds to support this initiative and related projects.
Image: Display of EHang’s EH216-F (firefighting eVTOL), EH216-S (pioltess passenger-carrying eVTOL) and EH216-L (logistics eVTOL) and others
In 2020, EHang launched the world’s first large-payload intelligent aerial firefighting emergency solution - the EH216-F, a pilotless electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (“eVTOL”). Capable of reaching altitudes of up to 600 meters, the EH216-F offers precise directional firefighting competencies, addressing critical challenges in combating high-rise building fires. It has completed comprehensive technical tests by the China National Fire-Fighting Equipment Quality Supervision Testing Center.
At this event, EHang showcased its comprehensive low-altitude firefighting emergency solutions, from the survey and early warning exercise with its small unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”) to the firefighting drill with the EH216-F, demonstrating its outstanding advantages of quick response, unmanned operation, remote fleet management, which received high praise from attending guests.
Image: EH216-F performs emergency firefighting drill
Building on this partnership, the two parties will also collaborate to establish a comprehensive Emergency Firefighting Industrial Park in Fangshan District. This Park will integrate functions such as R&D, testing, manufacturing, sales, maintenance and training, fostering coordinated upstream and downstream development. Key facilities are to be established in the Parks for EHang emergency rescue products, such as an innovation incubation center, a manufacturing base with large-scale intelligent production lines, a smart command-and-control center, and a multi-scenario testing and training center.
Furthermore, the two parties will collaborate to develop a range of low-altitude emergency mission scenarios in Beijing Fangshan District, including urban firefighting, forest fire extinguishing, industrial emergency rescue, disaster relief, and inspection. Beyond that, other low-altitude application scenarios, such as logistics transportation, cultural tourism sightseeing, and passenger transportation, will also be explored and developed. To support these, a talent training center is planned to be established to cultivate operation and maintenance staff for diverse emergency and rescue missions with different aircraft, accumulating expertise and setting a new benchmark for the low-altitude emergency rescue industry.
In September 2023, the Action Plan for the Development of Key Areas in Safety Emergency Equipment (2023-2025) was jointly issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Emergency Management. It proposes to utilize high-tech and high-effect safety emergency equipment for key application scenarios such as various natural disasters, urban fires, and emergency life rescue. In particular, UAVs were highlighted in the key equipment list with the focus on research and development, promotion, and industrial chain development. This Plan aims to achieve an industrial scale of over RMB1 trillion in key areas of safety emergency equipment by 2025 in China.
During the event, Bo Yang, Secretary of the Fangshan District Committee of Beijing, and Zhixin Di, Head of Fangshan District, presented appointment letters to Yuanyuan Yang, former Director of the CAAC, Daxiang Liu, Academician of the CAE, Zhao Wang, COO of EHang, and others, as expert consultants for the Beijing low-altitude safety and emergency industry.
Daxiang Liu, Academician of the CAE, said in his keynote speech, "The low-altitude economy is new powerful engine leading the high-quality development of China's economy. Enhancing aviation emergency rescue capabilities is a major livelihood project that concerns the entire society. Opening up the low-altitude airspace, speeding up airport construction, developing proprietary high-quality aircraft, and establishing an air intelligent information flight management system will promote greater development in low-altitude emergency rescue."
Yuanyuan Yang, former Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, stated: "New types of civil unmanned aerial vehicles will play an important role in the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of emergency rescue operations."
In recent years, Beijing Fangshan District has made notable strides in developing the low-altitude safety emergency industry. As a pilot zone for domestic general aviation equipment innovation and application in the aviation emergency rescue area and the safety protective equipment industrial cluster, it is fully committed to creating an intelligent emergency equipment industrial ecosystem represented by UAVs and robots. As the southwest gateway of Capital Beijing, Fangshan District has significant geographical advantages, favorable airspace conditions, and diverse scenarios with urbans, plains, farms, forests, hills and mountains, making it have massive demand for emergency rescue equipment across multiple fields. According to the Action Plan for Development of Low-Altitude Safety Emergency Industry in Fangshan District (2024–2027) issued in the second half of this year, it sets the goals by 2027 to establish a manufacturing-oriented low-altitude safety emergency industrial park; to achieve large-scale applications of new types of low-altitude equipment characterized by unmanned, digital, and intelligent technologies in aviation emergency rescue and smart logistics fields; to realize pilot operations of urban air mobility; and to form more than five replicable and scalable application scenarios.
Wujun Gao, Deputy Head of Fangshan District in Beijing, stated: "Fangshan District is continuously improving the aviation emergency industry spectrum, gathering high-quality enterprises such as EHang, and has formed an aviation emergency rescue industry ecosystem that integrates product research and development, manufacturing, technical services, and support services. This provides strong support for improving the capital's emergency rescue system. The district will also continue to leverage its own resource endowment to provide comprehensive and full-chain service guarantees for low-altitude safety emergency enterprises, aiding in their rapid growth and industry upgrading."
Zhao Wang, Chief Operating Officer of EHang, commented, "The integration of the low-altitude economy and emergency firefighting industries will make a significant contribution to social security, public services, and economic growth. As a global leader in the low-altitude economy, EHang is committed to advancing the applications of UAVs in emergency rescue and driving innovation in smart city management. By locating our National Headquarters for Low-Altitude Emergency Rescue Equipment in Beijing Fangshan District, we aim to leverage its leading advantages in aviation emergency services to further accelerate the development of the low-altitude emergency industry. Additionally, we will capitalize on Capital Beijing’s influence to create a high-quality demonstration for the national low-altitude emergency management system. With Fangshan District as the starting point, EHang plans to gradually establish regional emergency rescue centers across the country to enhance the safeguarding of lives and property while advancing the low-altitude economy industry toward higher-quality development. We aspire to set new models and benchmarks for the global ‘low-altitude + emergency’ sector."
About EHang
EHang (Nasdaq: EH) is the world’s leading urban air mobility (“UAM”) technology platform company. Our mission is to enable safe, autonomous, and eco-friendly air mobility accessible to everyone. EHang provides customers in various industries with unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) systems and solutions: air mobility (including passenger transportation and logistics), smart city management, and aerial media solutions. EHang’s flagship product EH216-S has obtained the world’s first type certificate, production certificate and standard airworthiness certificate for pilotless eVTOL issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. As the forerunner of cutting-edge UAV technologies and commercial solutions in the global UAM industry, EHang continues to explore the boundaries of the sky to make flying technologies benefit our life in smart cities. For more information, please visit www.ehang.com.
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