China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs has jointly issued a notice about strengthening controls on partial exports of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) starting Aug. 15, triggering concerns over UAV producers led by DJI of Shenzhen, reports the Shanghai-based China Business News.
As the market leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial photography systems, DJI quadcopters like the Phantom are the standard in consumer drone technology.
DJI said its products are not included in the export controls mentioned in the notice. The actual impact on the industry from the new regulations is still unclear, added Ehang co-founder Xiong Yifang.
Commercial drone exports have seen explosive growth. According to Shenzhen customs, in the first five months of the year, UAV makers in the city alone exported 160,000 models valued at 750 million yuan (US$120.7 million), a 55-fold increase year-on-year. Of the total, DJI alone accounted for more than 95% of sales.
Most of the products were exported to Europe and the United States.
The joint notice will ban the following products for export: UAVs which can fly above 15,420 meters (50,000 feet), those with a cruising capacity of over 30 minutes out of eyesight of the operator, and those capable of flying in wind speeds of more than 46.3 kilometers per hour, said the report.
Before the joint notice, related regulators had issued another notice banning exports on UAVs with single-flight distances of more than 300 kilometers and with a loading capacity of more than 20 liters, effective as of July 1.
Following the maturity of China’s industrial chains and the continuous drop in hardware costs, the nation’s UAV development potential has been unleashed. According to projections from Teal Group, consumption of UAVs will double in the next 10 years to US$5.6 billion in 2023 from US$2.8 billion in 2014.
In the first half of 2015, more than 500 enterprises won approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to legally use UAVs, of which more than half are going with DJI products.
DJI accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s commercial-use UAVs, or commercial drones.
The latest notice will not have a big impact on the consumption-oriented UAV industry as most UAV manufacturers, including DJI, are only capable of making UAVs with a maximum flight time of about 20 minutes, said an executive of one unnamed British UAV enterprise.
Source: Want China Times