China’s drone numbers surge, industry expected to speed up

The total volume of China’s registered drones reached 1.27 million as of the end of 2023, increasing by 32.2 percent yearon-year, according to Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Friday.

The Government Work Report of 2024, which was approved during the two sessions earlier this month, stated that China will develop new quality productive forces including fostering new growth engines in fields such as the low-altitude economy and underlined the development path of the drone industry.

The rapid growth of the drone industry in China will be a long-lasting trend and is expected to be accelerated in the future, Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Friday.

“China’s leading manufacturing capability can produce nearly every type of drone, and can support the rapid growth of the sector,” he noted.

In 2023, accumulated flight hours of China’s civil drones were recorded at 23.11 million hours, up 11.8 percent year-onyear, per CAAC. Civil drones have been widely deployed in the sectors of agriculture, forestry, livestock farming and fishery, as well as entertainment and photography.

In response to some Western countries’ smears that China-produced drones are being used for military purposes, Wang said that China has issued strict regulations on drone exports and taken concrete measures to maintain global security.

Chinese authorities on July 2023 issued two notices implementing export controls on certain unmanned aerial vehicles and related items, a move expected from a responsible major country and one that is conducive to regional security, especially when drones for civilian use are increasingly being converted for military purposes.

“However, a consumer drone cannot be clearly tracked after being sold and some Western countries’ allegations are an issue of global security governance, which is not solely China’s obligation,” said Wang.