China's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Industry Rapid Growth and Regulations

TapTechNews September 24th news, according to CCTV News report, the Third China Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Development International Forum was held today. Currently, the number of unmanned aerial vehicle enterprises and practitioners in China has increased significantly, and the flight volume of unmanned aerial vehicles has risen rapidly.

The Civil Aviation Administration disclosed that as of June 2024, the number of registered unmanned aerial vehicles across the country has reached 1.875 million, there are more than 14,000 unmanned aerial vehicle operating enterprises, and the number of unmanned aerial vehicle pilot licenses exceeds 225,000.

From January to June this year, the cumulative flight time of civil unmanned aerial vehicles across the country was 9.816 million hours, an increase of 134,000 hours compared to the same period last year.

According to TapTechNews' previous report, the Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has been in effect since January 1, 2024, emphasizing that unmanned aerial vehicles must be registered with real names. For micro, light, and small unmanned aerial vehicles, the suitable flight airspace has been divided. The suitable flight airspace below a true altitude of 120 meters can fly freely without submitting an application for flight activities. For the airspace above a true altitude of 120 meters, an application needs to be submitted to the air traffic control agency of the corresponding flight control zone.

As of the end of 2023, there were 1.267 million registered unmanned aerial vehicles in China, an increase of 32.2% year-on-year. In 2023, the cumulative flight time of civil unmanned aerial vehicles was 23.11 million hours, an increase of 11.8% year-on-year.