The science fiction stories about flying cars seem to be finally coming true.

A factory for producing flying cars commenced construction on Sunday in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

The development was highlighted by Yawen Xu, a journalist with Chinese CGTN Radio, in a thread on her X (formerly Twitter) profile. The writer Amitav Ghosh, a keen China watcher, reposted the thread with the comment: “Jaw just dropped.”

Commissioned by Xpeng Aeroht, the Asia’s largest flying car affiliate of electric vehicle maker Xpeng, the manufacturing base is touted as "the world's first mass-production facility for flying cars."

The first phase of the factory, covering an area of 180,000 square metres, is dedicated to producing the air module for the modular flying car Land Aircraft Carrier, with a designed annual capacity of 10,000 units, according to the company.

The facility will be the first of its kind to “apply advanced assembly line processes for large-scale flying car production”.

The manufacturing base aims to meet the high-precision standards of the aviation industry while leveraging the efficiencies of automotive mass production.

This unique combination is expected to enhance quality consistency, lower production costs, and significantly reduce delivery times, fostering synergy between the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector and the emerging low-altitude economy.

With the integration of flying cars, China’s low-altitude economy could reshape transportation, paving the way for innovative, sustainable mobility solutions.

The low-altitude sector in China includes 2.05 million registered drones and 17,000 certified drone companies as of September, Xu wrote. Drones are already being used for new applications like express delivery, tourism, and air sports, she pointed out.

According to her, about 70 A-share companies in China are engaged in flying car-related businesses, with the market estimated at $71 billion in 2023, reflecting a 33.8 per cent annual growth.

The modular flying car is scheduled for its global public flight debut at the China Airshow on November 12, with pre-sales beginning by year-end.