More than 330,000 owners of “unmanned aircraft systems”, or drones, with a weight above 250 grams, have registered theirs via China’s compulsory real-name online registration system, Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
There are a total of 1,353 drone manufacturers in China, Xinhua said, citing Liu Weiwei, the vice director of the aircraft airworthiness institute at the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology.
An average of 300 owners register new drones each day since the system went online two years ago, she said.
Those numbers are comparable to the United States’ drone market. The Federal Aviation Administration disclosed in April that monthly owner registration in the US averaged around 8,000-9,000 in 2018.
Overall more than 900,000 drone owners are already registered with the FAA as of September 2018. Like in China, the US authority requires all UAS weighing more than 250 grams and less than 25 kilograms to be registered.
Contact the writer at jingli@kr-asia.com
