To fly a drone over a Chinese city may result in a jail sentence.
China now dominates the global drone industry, but it has become one of the toughest places to fly an FPV due to the new regulations.
Headquarters of DJI, the Chinese company that shapes & leads the drone industry. pic.twitter.com/eaqgTuDvu6
— Li Zexin 李泽欣 (@XH_Lee23) April 2, 2026
The New York Times reported:
“New regulations are sharply tightening rules for recreational and civilian operators. Since January, officials have ramped up the penalties for unauthorized flying of drones to include possible jail time. Starting in May, all drones must be registered with the owners’ real names, requiring operators to link their flight equipment to their official identification or cellphone number.
Permits will be required at least a day in advance in restricted zones, which cover most cities. The rules make an exception for small drones flying below 400 feet in some open areas, but those areas are very limited.”
Flight data will be transmitted to the government in real time, and in cities like Beijing, a near-total drone ban is now in force.
✨🇨🇳More and more Chinese youth are working as professional drone transport pilots, representing a new career in China. pic.twitter.com/VsRxyTo3Sz
— 🇨🇳XuZhenqing徐祯卿 (@XueJia24682) April 4, 2026
Drone owners can register their crafts with the police by April 30, but they can only have three drones at the same address.
“China has required drones to be registered and limited to certain areas since 2024. But as the crackdown has escalated in recent months, many drone users say overzealous enforcement has grounded most flights, even for what they believe are legitimate uses. Chinese social media platforms are filled with accounts of users being questioned, fined, detained and having their drones confiscated by the police across the country.”
China unveils a new heavy-lift helicopter-type drone capable of carrying up to 600 kg to hard-to-reach or dangerous areas; mountains, disaster zones or combat regions. pic.twitter.com/SWBvezXN60
— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 2, 2026
“The Ministry of Public Security said that tighter regulations were necessary to protect public safety, noting the risks of drone information systems being hacked as well as incidents in which drones had flown at a high altitude, even threatening civil aviation safety. It cited a case in which it said an operator had flown a drone within 800 meters, or about 2,600 feet, of a civil aircraft, and another in which it said a user had flown a drone into a no-fly zone near an airport to film planes’ landing paths. Last year, two drones collided midair and crashed onto a Shanghai skyscraper.”
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