The Civil Aviation Administration of China previously announced that starting this month, all drones sold and used in mainland China must be registered under real names and activated in the system before they can fly. Beijing has further banned the flying, sale, and transport of drones, with violators facing fines of up to 50,000 yuan, administrative penalties, and even criminal prosecution.
Pan Xuezhi, assistant director of the Joint Institute for Shanghai-Hong Kong Development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, believes this reflects a shift in national strategy from "post-event handling" to "pre-event management" to ensure airspace security. With pilots registered under their real names, the movement of drones can be effectively tracked. He cited examples such as large reservoirs, railway lines, communication transmission stations, energy facilities, and military-sensitive areas, where malicious drone detection or attacks could significantly impact public life. "Fly restriction" measures, including prohibiting unauthorized drone flights, greatly enhance public safety and regional management.
He also believes that drones have historically been primarily for personal consumption and entertainment. With greater regulation, they can move towards higher value-added industries, such as agricultural control, logistics and transportation, and emergency equipment, which require more regulated space to avoid interference from civilian products.
Pan Xuezhi believes that Beijing's measures are considered the strictest, but they are special cases. He expects that some megacities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, will follow suit when there are strategically important or large-scale events that require a high level of security. However, a complete ban on drones would deviate from the national low-altitude economic policy and is not expected to be implemented on a large scale in mainland China.
He also pointed out that policy coordination between the Hong Kong SAR government and the mainland is an inevitable trend. At the same time, based on the advantages of "one country, two systems", it is necessary to examine what regulations need to exist. For example, it may only be necessary to handle drone registration matters for cross-border commercial use. Otherwise, there will be a regulatory vacuum. However, in terms of civilian use, Hong Kong still has a considerable degree of freedom.
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK)https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1853819-20260507.htm
