Beijing bans drone sales even as rest of world buys Chinese drones
Beijing bans drone sales even as rest of world buys Chinese drones
北京禁止无人机销售，尽管世界其他地区仍在购买中国无人机
China’s new clampdown on drone sales and even the storage of drone components within the capital of Beijing stands out in a country that effectively built the global market for affordable commercial drones. The unprecedented citywide rules taking effect on May 1 come as authorities tighten drone regulations across the country and enforce flight restrictions more strictly.
中国对无人机销售甚至无人机零部件在首都北京的存储实施了新的限制，这在一个实际上构建了全球平价商用无人机市场的国家显得尤为突出。这些于5月1日生效的史无前例的城市级规定出台之际，正值当局在全国范围内收紧无人机监管并更严格地执行飞行限制。
Chinese officials are refining drone regulations because “enforcement and rules have been uneven or unclear,” said Lizzi C. Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis in New York City. Now it appears that Beijing officials are “experimenting with a more comprehensive, front-end approach” by implementing the citywide ban on drone sales and rentals—not to mention restricting the storage of drones and drone components within the city.
纽约亚洲协会政策研究所中国分析中心研究中国经济的研究员李子（Lizzi C. Lee）表示，中国官员正在完善无人机法规，因为“执法和规则一直不均衡或不明确”。现在看来，北京官员正在“尝试一种更全面、更前端的方法”，通过实施全市范围内的无人机销售和租赁禁令，更不用说限制无人机及其零部件在城内的存储了。
“What’s pretty notable here is that this is not just about regulating use but also about controlling the entire lifecycle—sales, transport, and storage—of drones,” Lee told Ars. “That’s a much more preventive, system-level approach to eliminating unauthorized drone activity rather than just policing them after the fact.”
“这里非常值得注意的是，这不仅仅是关于规范使用，而是关于控制无人机的整个生命周期——销售、运输和存储，”李告诉Ars。“这是一种更具预防性的、系统层面的方法，旨在消除未经授权的无人机活动，而不是仅仅在事后进行监管。”
Ordinary Beijing residents and businesses were already finding it difficult to buy drones in the run-up to the May 1 enforcement deadline. For example, the Associated Press reported that Chinese online shopping platforms were preventing customers from purchasing drones for delivery to Beijing addresses as of late April, while some consumer electronics stores were attempting to clear out their drone stocks by the deadline.
在5月1日执法截止日期临近时，普通的北京居民和企业已经发现购买无人机变得困难。例如，美联社报道称，截至4月下旬，中国在线购物平台已阻止客户购买寄往北京地址的无人机，而一些消费电子商店则试图在截止日期前清理其无人机库存。
Local authorities also plan to “conduct security inspection at entry points to intercept inbound drones, with violators handed over to police,” according to Chinese media site Caixin Global. Existing storage facilities within Beijing’s Sixth Ring Road—an encircling expressway about 15 to 20 miles from the city center—are limited to storing a maximum of three drones or 10 core components while also being required to undergo police inspections. The new rules mainly make exceptions for universities and research institutions along with law enforcement. Beijing residents who already own drones and have registered those with the authorities will supposedly be allowed to transport the drones in and out of the city.
据中国媒体财新网报道，地方当局还计划“在入境点进行安全检查以拦截入境无人机，违规者将被移交警方”。北京六环路（距离市中心约15至20英里的环城高速公路）内的现有存储设施被限制最多只能存储三架无人机或10个核心部件，同时还必须接受警方检查。新规定主要对大学、研究机构以及执法部门作出了豁免。据称，已经拥有无人机并已向当局注册的北京居民将被允许携带无人机进出该市。
“I wouldn’t assume this exact Beijing pilot model gets replicated nationwide, but elements of it could inform nationwide drone regulations,” Lee said.
“我不会认为这种精确的北京试点模式会在全国范围内复制，但其中的一些要素可能会为全国性的无人机法规提供参考，”李说。
Flight restrictions and sales headwinds
飞行限制与销售逆风
Officials had already made Beijing’s airspace off-limits to most drone flights as of August 2025, according to Caixin Global. It’s not uncommon for government officials to implement such drone flight restrictions around sensitive areas, as is the case in Washington, DC, which is a US no-fly zone for drones. But such airspace restrictions are still unusually strict compared to policies in other Chinese cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen.
据财新网报道，截至2025年8月，官员们已经将北京的领空对大多数无人机飞行设为禁区。政府官员在敏感区域实施此类无人机飞行限制并不罕见，例如华盛顿特区就是美国的无人机禁飞区。但与上海和深圳等其他中国城市的政策相比，这种领空限制仍然异常严格。
Starting in May, drone pilots in China must also begin registering with their real names and link their drones to official identification or a cellphone number, with flight data being transmitted to the government. That is broadly similar to how the US Federal Aviation Administration requires registration for drones weighing more than 0.55 pounds and maintains the capability to track drones using the Remote ID system.
从5月开始，中国的无人机飞手还必须开始实名注册，并将无人机与官方身份证件或手机号码绑定，飞行数据将传输给政府。这与美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）要求重量超过0.55磅的无人机进行注册，并利用远程识别（Remote ID）系统保持对无人机追踪能力的做法大致相似。
However, some Chinese drone users have complained on social media about the tightening drone regulations and local police enforcement that is so strict that it blocks most drone flight requests. The New York Times interviewed Beijing residents who told of receiving calls from police as soon as they powered on their drones, or receiving home visits from police officers asking about drones they had not flown in years.
然而，一些中国无人机用户在社交媒体上抱怨监管收紧，且当地警方的执法过于严格，以至于阻碍了大多数无人机飞行请求。《纽约时报》采访的北京居民表示，他们一启动无人机就会接到警察的电话，或者有警察上门询问他们多年未飞的无人机情况。
Such “overzealous enforcement” runs the risk of creating a chilling effect on Chinese drone users that dampens sales, according to The New York Times. The publication pointed to drone dealers telling Chinese media about declining sales in recent months, even as used drone listings were rising.
据《纽约时报》报道，这种“过度执法”有可能会对中国无人机用户产生寒蝉效应，从而抑制销售。该媒体指出，无人机经销商告诉中国媒体，近几个月来销售额有所下降，而二手无人机的挂牌量却在上升。
In the grand scheme, the new Beijing ban on drone sales within the city should not make much of a dent in total sales for DJI, the Shenzhen-based drone manufacturer that has between 70 and 80 percent share of the global market for commercial drones. “Economically, the direct impact on major firms like DJI should be limited since Beijing is a relatively small slice of overall demand, and this is not about cracking down on the drone industry but about regulating emerging technology,” Lee told Ars. “In fact, I think we will see clearer, more standardized rules that may ultimately bring more predictability to the industry, which is quickly evolving.”
从大局来看，北京新的市内无人机销售禁令不应对大疆（DJI）的总销售额造成太大影响，这家总部位于深圳的无人机制造商占据了全球商用无人机市场70%到80%的份额。“从经济角度来看，对大疆等主要公司的直接影响应该是有限的，因为北京在总需求中所占比例相对较小，而且这并不是为了打击无人机行业，而是为了规范新兴技术，”李告诉Ars。“事实上，我认为我们将看到更清晰、更标准化的规则，这最终可能会为快速发展的行业带来更多的可预测性。”
But Chinese drone maker DJI is facing a potentially greater business challenge in the United States, where DJI drones account for the vast majority of operational drones in the world’s largest commercial drone market. On December 22, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that it would no longer authorize sales of new foreign-made drone models—effectively blocking Americans from buying the newest DJI drone models going forward. DJI filed an appeal with the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year.
但中国无人机制造商大疆在美国面临着潜在的更大商业挑战，大疆无人机在世界最大的商用无人机市场中占据了绝大多数的运营份额。2025年12月22日，美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）裁定，将不再批准销售新的外国制造的无人机型号——实际上阻止了美国人今后购买最新的大疆无人机型号。大疆已于今年早些时候向美国第九巡回上诉法院提起上诉。