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Caroline Lin

Beijing has launched a drone research hub in Tibet near Mount Everest in an effort to exploit its high-altitude advantage in the ongoing competition for technological dominance between the US and China.
The Plateau Drone R&D Application Centre was recently unveiled by Xizang University, state news agency Xinhua reported earlier this month. Xizang is the official Chinese pinyin name for the Tibet autonomous region in western China.
Situated on the Chinese side of the world’s highest peak, the centre represents the country’s first research and application platform dedicated to drones operating at high altitude.
It also supports Beijing’s broader push for low-altitude economic development and industrial growth across autonomous regions, according to the university.
Several senior military officials from aviation rescue and emergency response teams attended the centre’s opening ceremony.
It followed the launch in September last year of China’s first high-altitude uncrewed equipment test base in Ngari prefecture, also known as Ali, a strategically important region in western Tibet bordering India.


Tibet serves as an ideal site for the research, as it features high elevation, tough terrain and harsh weather, making it a natural testing field for uncrewed aerial vehicles.
According to Xinhua, the centre aims to meet Tibet’s urgent need for modern technology. Bordering several countries – including Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal – and holding vast natural resources, Tibet will use the centre’s drones for border patrols, environmental protection, land surveying and remote supply delivery.
The new facility would focus on breaking technical bottlenecks in developing high-altitude drones, while cultivating talent and meeting the operational needs of sectors such as emergency response, transport and border security, Xinhua reported.
The news agency quoted Sun Xianzhong, party secretary of Xizang University, as saying the university would back the centre with its top-tier research assets, including its interdisciplinary “plateau science and technology” flagship discipline cluster and a National Outstanding Engineers team.
Sun said the school had registered a specialised micro-major in plateau drone transport and begun applying for a full undergraduate programme in low-altitude technology and engineering, aiming to admit students next year.
The centre’s launch comes as technology competition between the US and China intensifies, with high-altitude drone logistics around Everest emerging as a testing ground for supremacy.
Beijing has already secured a front-running position in the high-altitude race.
Since 2024, Nepal’s local operator, Airlift Technology, has been deploying heavy-lift drones from Chinese manufacturer DJI to transport climbing supplies to upper camps and haul away garbage and human waste, reducing hazards for local Sherpas.


In another milestone, DJI’s first vertical take-off and landing delivery drone, the DJI EV50, recently reached an altitude above Everest’s northern slope of 8,861 metres (about 29,000 feet) – 12.14 metres higher than the summit.
Beyond breaking flight records, the drone helped a Chinese scientific research team carry out atmospheric pollutant observations in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
Everest sits along the border between China and Nepal, an area where Beijing’s expanding investments have sparked concerns over its growing clout in South Asia.
Meanwhile, the United States is actively lobbying for American drone technology, such as Washington state-based Freefly Systems, to enter the market and challenge DJI.
The US has designated Shenzhen-headquartered DJI as a Chinese military entity, citing data security concerns. DJI has denied the accusations.
However, Washington’s push has run into geopolitical hurdles.
Nepal’s home affairs ministry denied the Freefly drone permission to conduct test flights on Everest, citing national security sensitivities and a need to maintain strategic neutrality, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Though DJI handles the heavy lifting, Freefly’s significantly lighter frame allows for faster deployment in rapid emergency rescues, the newspaper reported.
Airlift co-founder Milan Pandey told The Wall Street Journal that he believed Chinese and US drones did not need to be rivals on Everest and could complement each other.


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Centre’s establishment represents Beijing’s first research and application platform dedicated to drones operating at high altitudes


Centre’s establishment represents Beijing’s first research and application platform dedicated to drones operating at high altitudes.


A new peak in US-China tech rivalry? Tibet drone hub launches on Mount Everest

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Centre’s establishment represents Beijing’s first research and application platform dedicated to drones operating at high altitudes

Centre’s establishment represents Beijing’s first research and application platform dedicated to drones operating at high altitudes