A technician assembles drones at a company in the Liangping High-tech Zone, a pilot zone intended to develop China’s low-altitude economy, in Chongqing, in southwest China, on September 8, 2026. — AFP
Owners must scrap, sell back or ship out their devices by Nov 15 or face confiscation and fines
BEIJING: Beijing will ban the possession of drones within city limits under new rules taking effect on Nov 15, tightening regulations that already prohibited the sale of the devices. The rules, announced on Sunday, forbid possessing or storing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Chinese capital, ban flights in its airspace and prohibit transporting drones or their components into the city.
All drone owners must dispose of their devices or move them out of Beijing by Nov 15 or face confiscation and fines. Authorities will offer subsidies for owners to scrap their gadgets and are offering to buy back drones from owners who have registered them. Alternatively, owners will be offered free shipping to mail the devices out of the city.
Airspace safety fears in the city of 22 million were raised in June when a small plane crashed into its tallest skyscraper, killing the pilot and injuring 13 others. The regulations, formulated by Beijing’s municipal government, cited the need to “safeguard the security of the capital”. Under rules introduced in May, the city already prohibited drone sales, while owners had to register their devices but were allowed to keep them.
“The outright ban is really an indication of how politically sensitive Beijing is and how important it is politically to the Communist Party,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. “The Communist Party is trying to achieve absolute security and a complete ban on drones in the capital is one way to approach that.” He added that the ban was not just about “terroristic threats” but also potentially about counter-intelligence, since drones are also used for surveillance.
Drone flights in Beijing’s airspace already require permission from the authorities. Under the new rules, exemptions may be granted for special purposes such as counter-terrorism, agriculture, disaster relief and research. — AFP
Click Here For The Original Source
