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Alcott Wei

For years, aerial drones frequently buzzed above the Huangpu River in Shanghai, capturing breathtaking views of one of China’s most iconic central business districts and the lights of thousands of homes.
But the spectacular aerial photos that once defined one of the world’s largest commercial drone markets have now been heavily restricted along this picturesque stretch of the river, reflecting a nationwide tightening of rules on civilian drone use.
Security concerns magnified by Ukraine’s drone attacks behind Russian lines are believed to have prompted China to enact the strict new regulations.
The sweeping changes have disrupted casual drone use and increased compliance hurdles for industrial applications like power grid inspections, complicating the country’s growing low-altitude economy.
Interviews and research by the South China Morning Post have revealed that nearly 20 of China’s biggest cities have put in place a blanket ban on civilian drone flights in central areas, with some changes implemented without policy announcements.


Fu Qianshao, a military analyst and former PLA Air Force officer, said the repeated drone attacks against Moscow and other important cities during the Ukraine war had created a sense of urgency in China about security in low-altitude areas.
“As long as a basic drone has a two-way data link for control, using it to launch an attack is highly accessible, and the threshold is extremely low,” Fu said.
That threat was highlighted recently in Beijing.
On June 26, a light sport aircraft that took off from a Beijing suburb crashed into the 108-storey Citic Tower, the tallest skyscraper in the capital, killing the pilot and injuring 13 others.
Authorities said the incident was a case of “endangering public safety caused by personal reasons”. They have not explained how the aircraft flew from a suburb to one of the most sensitive and densely populated areas of Beijing.
Li Wei, director of the Centre for Counterterrorism Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, a government think tank in Beijing, said such incidents left authorities with almost no time to react.
“Once the civilian aircraft veered towards the city, its progress would have left air traffic control and air defence little time to react,” Li said.
Determining the pilot’s “intent” in the crash would be difficult, he added, particularly because the aircraft’s transponder had stopped transmitting.
Li said this left authorities with a critical dilemma: attempting to shoot down a rogue aircraft over a densely populated city like Beijing risked causing severe casualties on the ground and widespread panic.


Policy change
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), a regulatory body, China had 3.287 million registered drones by the end of 2025, logging a total annual flight time of 45.3 million hours.
In 2025, the scale of China’s low-altitude economy exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan (US$221.5 billion).
But after years of rapid market expansion, policy winds shifted last year when local and central regulators issued multiple warnings about industry risks.
Xie Maosong, a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, described the policy shift as a paradigm for China’s handling of new technologies.
“When China encounters a new technology, it will first allow it to develop freely for a period of time,” Xie said. “When the technology develops on a larger scale, it will begin to consider the issue of risk regulation and subsequently seek a balance between development and security.”
In January 2025, Shanghai released administrative regulations redefining flight areas for civilian drones. The rules designated many urban areas as restricted zones, meaning pilots must secure approval before flying, which is usually very difficult to obtain.
In May, Beijing went further, implementing a sweeping ban that prohibits the sale, rental and transport of drones and their core components into or within the capital city without public security approval.
Citing “low-altitude security” concerns, authorities have effectively blocked online deliveries to Beijing addresses, banned physical retail sales and mandated strict public security registration for existing devices.
At least 15 other major Chinese cities have tightened restrictions on drone use since then.
Drone policies have become more stringent at the national level as well.
Two new mandatory national standards for civilian drones officially took effect on May 1, following their initial release late last year. Under the new rules, all drones must be registered using the owner’s real name, and remain software-locked from flying until activated – and locked again if they are later deactivated.
Drones must also be equipped with an operational identification module that continuously broadcasts real-time data – including the drone’s identity, location and speed – directly to regulatory databases, from the moment they are switched on until they land.
Further, drones must be modified to comply with the new real-name activation and real-time data transmission rules within a strict transition period, or face being locked out of operation.

Also in May, CAAC established a dedicated department to coordinate low-altitude aviation safety and development, as well as build low-altitude flight service dispatch platforms and service stations.
Xie of Tsinghua said the new Low-Altitude Safety Department was “a clear signal that China is re-coordinating development and safety in the low-altitude economy and strengthening safety regulations”.
The decision reflected China’s perception that the development of its low-altitude economy and the drone industry driving it faced structural risks requiring stricter regulation, he added.
That perception may look familiar as Beijing has shored up national security on all fronts over the past 10 years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the concept of “coordinating development and security” in 2014. As part of China’s holistic national security framework, the principle emphasises balancing national development with security needs, establishing risk baselines and strengthening resilience.
“Coordinating development and security” was also incorporated as one of six development principles under China’s latest five-year plan. Adopted at the National People’s Congress (NPC) in March, the 15th five-year plan outlines China’s economic and social development blueprint from 2026 to 2030.
According to the plan, China must “strengthen the management of low-altitude operations and advance the research, development and application of technologies and products for protecting against security risks posed by low-cost drones”.
Fears from Ukraine
The shift in drone policy came as asymmetric warfare kept escalating in the Ukraine war.
In June last year, under a highly coordinated covert operation code-named “Spiderweb”, Ukraine smuggled more than 100 strike drones deep into Russian territory by concealing them within cargo trucks.
Once positioned near key Russian airbases – some thousands of kilometres from the Ukrainian border – the drones were launched and remotely guided to their targets, to devastating effect.

The operation inflicted massive losses on Russia’s long-range aviation, destroying and damaging dozens of high-value reconnaissance aircraft and strategic bombers parked on tarmacs.
Moscow and its surrounding regions have also faced unprecedented waves of drone strikes, including last month, when Ukraine launched its largest-ever drone attack on the Russian capital.
The bombardment breached Moscow’s air defences, striking the critical Moscow Oil Refinery and igniting a massive blaze that severely disrupted the region’s fuel supply and grounded hundreds of flights.
Beijing has reason to be concerned, according to a Chinese radar expert who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“Drones can fly as low as just over 10 metres (about 33 feet) and can even fly close to the ground, while moving relatively slowly,” the expert said. “Under such flight conditions, it is very difficult for radar to distinguish threatening drones from background clutter.”
“The low-altitude environment in cities is even more complex, creating greater pressure on drone detection and defence.”
According to Fu, the former PLA Air Force officer, regulations are still inadequate.
“Security loopholes remain if someone modifies a drone or directly assembles a modified drone from components,” Fu said.
Beijing has stepped up its warnings for those who seek to fly drones without gaining approval.
In June last year, the NPC Standing Committee – China’s top legislative body – passed a heavily revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law.
It officially lists the illegal use of drones as a threat to public safety, with operators in serious cases subject to administrative detention. If the violations constitute a formal crime, offenders may face criminal prosecution.


And in December last year, China’s Ministry of Public Security launched a nationwide “clean skies” campaign aimed at combating the illegal use and modification of drones.
Since then, the ministry has published details of cases involving illegally modified drones on multiple occasions to warn the public against such activities.
Confusion
For the owners of the country’s estimated 3 million drones, the policy change has caused considerable confusion and shock.
At least 15 major cities, including Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Nanjing, have designated most of their urban areas as restricted zones. Approval is required for drone flights on the CAAC’s civil uncrewed aircraft operation management (UOM) platform.
The SCMP has learned that most of the changes to restricted flight zones were made between January and March, and many were not formally issued as administrative regulations.
The SCMP reached out to local authorities in Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Nanjing regarding the adjusted restricted flight zones but they had yet to respond by publication time.
John Liu, a Shanghai-based drone pilot with six years of aerial photography experience, said he spent the last six months shuttling between drone shops and public security bureaus just to modify and register his three devices.
The SCMP reached out to eight drone pilots from various cities who shared urban aerial photographs taken between 2021 and 2025.
Today, the exact locations where those photos and videos were shot have become restricted flight zones that require official approval.
Daniel Wei, a drone pilot from Fuzhou with seven years of experience in aerial photography, said: “In 2019, there were almost no restricted zones, and people could freely photograph urban landscapes from altitudes of 200 to 300 metres, although some restrictions were introduced later.”
In 2024 and 2025, Wei recalled, as long as a drone pilot was not flying in a sensitive military area or around a transport hub, take-offs were permitted on the same day a flight application was filed.


Under the new regulations, even within the now much smaller designated “blue zones”, small civilian drones must fly no higher than 120 metres above ground level unless they receive special approval.
“The 120-metre altitude limit means that at least half of the visual effects sought in aerial photography are no longer achievable,” Wei said.
“It is now very difficult to conduct urban aerial photography in Fuzhou. Almost all areas are restricted, and even forests and mountainous scenic areas near the city require approval.”
He added that following the policy changes, the approval process had become extremely opaque.
Individual drone pilots can submit applications on the UOM platform before noon for flights the following day, but the outcomes appear to be consistently disappointing, according to Wei.
“My approval rate is extremely low, no matter how detailed my flight plan is,” he said.
“Sometimes the reason given for rejecting an application is even, ‘Please fly in government-designated suitable flight areas.’ If so, what is the point of applying for permission to fly?”
“Sometimes no one even processes the applications, and after midnight the system automatically rejects my applications.”
Xu Ying, an assistant professor at the school of government of the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), said the move might reflect deeper policy uncertainty.
“Against the backdrop of nationwide policy adjustments, making changes directly through the system instead of issuing administrative regulations may indicate that some local governments have not yet reached a formal decision or policy consensus on the use and development of civilian drones, and have therefore first tightened controls at the administrative level,” Xu said.
Backsliding
The regulatory crackdown has done more than just render a hobby obsolete. In some cases, it has set urban management back by years.
Drones have become deeply integrated into daily operations across China’s agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors. They play an essential role in a wide variety of tasks, including food delivery, crop monitoring, industrial inspections, pesticide spraying, aerial photography and light-show performances.




The use of drones to replace manual labour in infrastructure inspections has been a notable development in China’s power system since 2022. However, major compliance hurdles have now emerged under the stringent new civil aviation and real-name drone registration laws.
An inspector at the State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company who spoke on condition of anonymity described inspection methods as temporarily going backwards, shifting from using drones back to relying on helicopters and manual checks.
“Drones can carry infrared thermal-imaging equipment and conduct automated and detailed inspections of transmission towers and power lines,” the inspector said. “They are much safer and more efficient than manual inspections.”
“But because of the policy changes, obtaining approval for drone use has become very difficult, so we cannot use them for the time being.”
“Approval for helicopters is even much easier to obtain than approval for drones, but helicopter take-offs and landings are more complicated than those of drones, making them less convenient to use,” the inspector added.
According to Xu, who is also a fellow at CUFE’s Low-Altitude Economy Research Centre, difficulties in applying for drone flight approvals highlight a lack of administrative capability in coordinating the airspace needs of different departments, companies and individuals within some local governments.
“The new zoning and approval methods adopted by some local governments have effectively raised the threshold for flying, and these changes have not gone through a relatively transparent process,” Xu said.
“Public participation in airspace planning remains insufficient, which may leave drone pilots and companies frustrated about the development and in their expectations of the low-altitude economy at this time.”
Xu said local governments should provide a clear development road map and establish more coordination mechanisms to give non-governmental participants involved in the low-altitude economy sufficient confidence.
Hope on the horizon?
Among the major Chinese cities the SCMP looked into, southern tech hub Shenzhen still appeared to broadly permit the flight of small civilian drones.

China’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, is headquartered in Shenzhen, which is also the country’s most advanced city for low-altitude economy trials.
Shenzhen is estimated to produce – or export components for – about 70 per cent of the world’s consumer drones and roughly half of its industrial drones.
Observers suggested that these examples proved local governments had enough regulatory freedom to support the industry’s development.
“Cities like Shenzhen, which have a strong industrial foundation, need to maintain a balance between security and applications, preserving space for test flights, logistics deliveries and commercial scenarios,” said Zhang Weishi, an associate professor at Tianjin Normal University.
“Compared with Beijing, Shenzhen places greater weight on development,” she said.
Zhang noted that major cities typically mimicked each other’s stricter approaches in a typical example of policy convergence amid uncertainty.
Citing Shenzhen as an example, Zhang added: “Urban areas do not necessarily need to impose flight restrictions. The standard is whether additional security demands or key facilities are present in the surrounding areas.
“A more reasonable approach would be to implement dynamic, tiered management based on the area, time period and flight mission, rather than imposing a blanket policy.”
Xie of Tsinghua said policies at the local level could still change.
“Local governments also hope to retain some flexibility in decision-making through these temporary measures before the policy is fully settled,” he said. “They will continue to make adjustments as the measures are implemented.”
“In the long term, management may develop in a more refined direction.”


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Strict new rules have disrupted casual users and increased compliance hurdles for industrial applications like power grid inspections


Strict new rules have disrupted casual users and increased compliance hurdles for industrial applications like power grid inspections.


Did the Ukraine war spark China’s quiet ban on most civilian drone flights in cities?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Strict new rules have disrupted casual users and increased compliance hurdles for industrial applications like power grid inspections

Strict new rules have disrupted casual users and increased compliance hurdles for industrial applications like power grid inspections