China's booming EV sector powers takeoff of flying cars

China's thriving electric vehicle is taking to the skies, tapping into comprehensive supply chains and specialized talent to turn flying cars from dream to reality.

XPeng AeroHT, the flying car affiliate of Chinese EV maker XPENG, is leading the charge by unveiling the revolutionary "Land Aircraft Carrier" modular flying car, the first product in the world that can fit an aircraft in a car's trunk.

The unique vehicle boasts a two-part design, seamlessly switching between terrestrial and aerial modes. The air module facilitates vertical takeoff for low-altitude flights, while the ground module ingeniously envelops the air module, allowing for ground transportation.

In the future, this product will redefine road trips by allowing travelers to drive to scenic destinations and enjoy stunning aerial views of the landscape, said Zhao Deli, founder of XPeng AeroHT.

The air module of this futuristic vehicle is easy to operate.

"You can get started in five minutes, and become proficient in three hours. It can be manually controlled or fly automatically," said Zhao as he demonstrated the device.

Construction of a pioneering factory for producing these flying cars has begun in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, with mass production set to start in the third quarter of 2025 at an annual capacity of 10,000 units, which would mark a significant milestone in the future of transportation.

Zhao said the company has reached this point thanks to all the work done building China's EV industry.

"The development of new energy vehicles and electric vehicles over the years has cultivated a complete supply chain, research and development and talent. China also has a huge consumer market. Therefore, the new energy vehicles, and electric vehicles China has developed over the past ten years, offered flying cars technologies like power, flight control, autonomous driving as well as a complete supply chain," he said.

Customer deliveries of the flying cars will begin in 2026.

China's booming EV sector powers takeoff of flying cars

China has remained the world's largest online retail market for a 13th consecutive year, with its digital consumption exceeding 23.8 trillion yuan (about 3.39 trillion U.S. dollars), official data shows.

The figure was released at a national e-commerce work conference held from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The conference said that China's e-commerce sector has achieved solid gains in high-quality development over the past five years, emerging as a new source of momentum to foster new quality productive forces and playing an important role in advancing the country's new development paradigm.

Despite rising external uncertainties, China has continued to expand its win-win cooperation, increasing the number of Silk Road e-commerce cooperation partner countries to 36.

E-commerce has become a major engine for job creation and industrial upgrading. Employment in the sector has surpassed 78 million, and express delivery volumes have seen an average annual growth of nearly 20 percent over the past five years.

Software and information services linked to cloud computing and big data have also expanded rapidly.

The conference outlined the Ministry of Commerce's e-commerce policy priorities for 2026, including strengthening innovation-driven growth, improving the country's development environment, and expanding international cooperation.

China remains world's largest online retail market for 13th straight year