TAIYUAN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- On a sun-baked training ground in north China's Shanxi Province, the whirs of motors and propellers drown out the cicadas. Li Bo, 21, thumbs a remote control and guides a mid-size drone through a perfect horizontal figure-eight route.

Just 12 months ago, he was racing take-out orders through busy traffic on an electric scooter in Yongji City, Shanxi. But today, the young man is rehearsing for a future office in the sky. "Flying a drone isn't just a skill, but a whole new lane in the job market," Li said.

Among the seven trainees in his cohort are food delivery personnel, couriers, middle school students and university graduates.

"The market response has been much better than we expected," said Hu Bingkai, head of Yongji's Zhiyu Drone Technology Co., Ltd., which trains drone operators. Since July, the startup has received over 100 inquiries from people aged 15 to 50.

Drone academies across the country, from Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province to the southern metropolis of Shenzhen and northwest China's Xi'an, have reported waiting lists during this year's summer vacation, reminiscent of the early days of the private-car licensing boom.

Behind the roaring drone training industry is the sector's rapid development, as well as dual policy and market drivers.

January 2024 saw interim regulations on the management of unmanned aircraft operations come into effect, stipulating that commercial flights, with the exception of micro-drone flights, must be conducted by licensed operators. This has since created a rigid demand for certification, with licenses issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) becoming the industry standard.

Since mid-April this year, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has been hosting drone light shows every Saturday night in its downtown area, where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers converge. The spectacle has quickly become a hallmark of Chongqing, injecting fresh vitality into the city's tourism industry.

Each performance lasts just 20 minutes, but the consumer activity it sparks continues throughout the night, according to the drone show's director. Data indicates that since these regular performances began, the show has triggered consumption of over 350 million yuan (about 49.03 million U.S. dollars).

In May, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security revealed the intention to recognize 17 new occupations, including drone-swarm flight planner and fire-rescue drone operator.

The jobs involving drones extend from performance planning to urban governance, logistics, emergency response, tourism and agricultural protection. Other related professions, include drone training instructor, drone logistics scheduler, agricultural drone operator and forest-fire-prevention drone inspector, have also emerged.

In the logistics and food delivery industries, companies like Meituan, JD.com and SF Express have launched drone delivery routes in large cities such as Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai. Drone pilot positions have become high-paying and highly sought-after.

Zhang Yichen, a Gen-Z member of the Runtian Agricultural Machinery Cooperative in Xiaxian County, Shanxi, has seen his drone field patrol services expand to over 6,600 hectares.

Data shows that by the end of 2024, China had over 20,000 drone operations companies with a combined annual output value of approximately 210 billion yuan, up 39.5 percent year on year.

China's 2024 government work report included the concept of a "low-altitude economy" for the first time. The term covers drone delivery, aerial sightseeing and other industries operating below a height of 1,000 meters above ground.

Since the report was released, the country's low-altitude economy has experienced rapid expansion, with CAAC forecasts estimating its market scale will hit 1.5 trillion yuan by 2025 and 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.