Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On December 19, 2025, Chinese LiDAR supplier Hesai Technology announced a strategic partnership with Meituan Drone, under which Hesai's second-generation fully solid-state perception and positioning LiDAR, FTX, has been selected for mass production. The agreement marks a deep integration of advanced sensing technology with low-altitude logistics applications and represents a significant step forward as two industry leaders join forces to commercialize the emerging low-altitude economy.
Meituan Drone is positioning itself at the forefront of next-generation low-altitude logistics. Built around proprietary drone systems, its air–ground integrated delivery network extends beyond the physical constraints of traditional ground-based logistics and has become a key technology enabler for instant retail. On December 19 in Shanghai, Meituan unveiled an integrated low-altitude aviation network combining autonomous drones, smart docking airports, and intelligent dispatch systems. This marked a shift from experimental point-to-point routes to city-scale aerial networks, effectively turning drone corridors and takeoff-and-landing points into a city's "new streets" and "new intersections," and setting a new benchmark for urban efficiency through fully automated air–ground delivery operations.
At the same event, Meituan Drone introduced the long-range version of its fourth-generation platform, the M-Drone 4L. The model comes standard with LiDAR for perception and positioning. Its omnidirectional sensing suite integrates 10 sensors—including a fully solid-state FTX LiDAR—alongside vision systems and GNSS, enabling multimodal data fusion for all-weather, high-precision navigation and significantly improving safety during nighttime operations.
According to Mao Yinian, Meituan vice president of Meituan and head of the company's drone business, LiDAR is essential to enabling scalable nighttime low-altitude logistics. With breakthroughs in LiDAR-based navigation and positioning, Meituan's drones are now capable of precise flight and localization at night without relying on satellite or visual navigation systems, instead operating entirely on LiDAR-based guidance.
Low-altitude aviation has now been elevated to a national strategic emerging industry. Forecasts from China's civil aviation authorities suggest the market could reach 1.5 trillion yuan by 2025 and expand to 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035. The sector was formally included in the government work report for the first time in 2024, followed by the establishment of a dedicated low-altitude economy division under the National Development and Reform Commission to strengthen policy coordination. Local governments have since rolled out supportive measures, with cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Chengdu emerging as industrial hubs spanning drone logistics, passenger transport, and low-altitude tourism.
As airspace management reforms advance and supporting infrastructure improves, the low-altitude economy is shifting from isolated pilot projects toward large-scale deployment. Drones offer inherent advantages in dense urban environments and in routes spanning seas and mountainous terrain. Beyond food delivery, pharmaceuticals and emergency supplies are emerging as key use cases. The newly launched M-Drone 4L is already being used to transport blood samples between campuses of Shanghai's Renji Hospital, cutting transport times by 50% and doubling overall testing efficiency. To date, Meituan Drone has opened 65 routes across cities including Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Dubai, completing more than 740,000 orders and underscoring the vast potential of low-altitude logistics in instant retail.
In increasingly congested low-altitude airspace, LiDAR's three-dimensional perception capabilities have become a cornerstone of safe operations. Unlike vision-based systems, LiDAR is largely unaffected by lighting conditions and maintains stable performance at night or in adverse weather such as fog and haze, enabling true around-the-clock drone delivery. In real-world urban environments, drones must navigate complex obstacles including buildings, overhead wires, and unexpected hazards. LiDAR allows drones to detect other airborne objects, cables, and even fine obstacles like branches, significantly enhancing safety across low-altitude aerial networks.
Hesai's fully solid-state FTX LiDAR delivers more than double the resolution of its predecessor while achieving a major reduction in size and weight, cutting mass by 66% and significantly lowering integration complexity and manufacturing costs for drone platforms. Its ultra-wide field of view enables precise detection of small obstacles and further enhances environmental perception in low-visibility conditions such as nighttime and haze. Hesai plans to begin large-scale mass production and deliveries of the FTX LiDAR in 2026.
