Finance Gives Lift to Chongqing’s Drone Manufacturing Ambitions

Chongqing - A banking consortium in Western China has stepped in to finance a major drone manufacturing industrial park, helping to unlock a key infrastructure project in China's emerging low-altitude economy.

The Liangping Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Manufacturing Industrial Park in Chongqing is designed to integrate research, production, testing, and flight operations for drones. Once completed, it is expected to become a major manufacturing base for medium and large UAVs in the region, with a projected annual output value of 20 billion yuan (about U.S. 2.94 billion dollars).

Construction at the Phase I site is now underway, with factory buildings nearing completion while interior installation and equipment debugging are in progress. Local officials and project operators said financing had been a critical bottleneck before five Chinese banks-  including Agricultural Bank of China Liangping Branch, Bank of China Liangping Branch, ICBC, Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank and Bank of Chongqing - formed a syndicated loan package to support the 5 billion yuan project.

"A syndicated loan allows multiple banks to jointly provide large-scale financing beyond the credit limit of a single lender," said an official from the Agricultural Bank of China Liangping Branch. "It directly addresses financing bottlenecks for major industrial projects."

The Agricultural Bank of China Liangping Branch, as lead arranger, established a dedicated service team, coordinated funding allocation, and streamlined internal approval processes. The bank also completed credit approval within one week through a fast-track channel for major projects.

By September 2025, the first tranche of syndicated loans was disbursed, allowing construction to begin as scheduled. In April, 2026, the first batch of factory buildings was delivered, shifting the project from civil construction to interior installation.

Local officials said the financing solution has significantly accelerated construction and laid a foundation for early production.

Low-altitude economy development has been elevated to a national strategic industry in China, appearing in government work reports for three consecutive years. The Civil Aviation Administration of China forecasts that the market size could reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.

In Chongqing, policy support is accelerating. The city has been approved as a pilot for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) operations and has built a provincial-level low-altitude flight management platform.

Liangping, home to a Class A1 general aviation airport, has become a key hub. However, officials note that the industry is capital-intensive and long-cycle in nature, requiring sustained financial support.

In response, financial institutions have expanded their involvement across the supply chain. In 2025, Liangping established China's first "low-altitude industry financial consortium," bringing together 12 institutions and offering 50 billion yuan in credit support for the sector.

Banks are also deploying targeted financing products such as "low-altitude R&D loans" and "low-altitude manufacturing loans," aiming to reduce barriers for technology-driven firms.

At the enterprise level, firms such as Chongqing Pingwei Industrial Co. have received continued credit support for chip development used in UAV systems. Meanwhile, Chongqing Three Gorges Bank has introduced tailored financing solutions for industrial parks, while a national aerospace fund with a scale of 2 billion yuan has also been launched to support long-term investment in the sector.

Officials said Chongqing's low-altitude manufacturing output reached 10.2 billion yuan in 2025, up 20.4% year on year, with 106 enterprises now active in the sector. As financing channels expand, Liangping is positioning itself as a national low-altitude manufacturing base, while Chongqing continues building a wider industrial ecosystem across multiple districts.