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China acts to bring order to skies crowded by drones

BEIJING — Each drone that flies in China’s skies may soon be traceable back to its individual owner, as the government considers guidelines that will require registration in the loosely regulated sector.

TODAY file photo

TODAY file photo

BEIJING — Each drone that flies in China’s skies may soon be traceable back to its individual owner, as the government considers guidelines that will require registration in the loosely regulated sector.

The move comes as sales of drones soar, to the point where they pose a danger to civil aviation.

“Our foremost obligation is to register air vehicles and keep track of drone flyers,” says Mr Feng Zhenlin, president of China’s Civil Aviation Administration, in an interview on the sidelines of the “two sessions” — the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. “We are looking into a real-name registration system,” he said.

Analysts say such a registration system is long overdue. China’s skies have become crowded with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), from pocket-sized selfie makers to hefty crop dusters, which have remained largely unregulated as Beijing fears stunting the industry’s growth, according to analysts.

“Because the risks involved with drones have increased with their numbers, they are often the culprits behind (aviation) accidents,” Mr Feng says. “We need to straighten out responsibilities.”

In the first three months of this year, more than two dozen flights have been interrupted by aircraft that have strayed into no-flight zones.

“If the sky was a market, and state-owned airlines were department stores, drones would be wandering street peddlers,” says Mr Liu Yang of the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China. “There’s no way to hold them accountable if they cause trouble.

“The price of illegal behaviour for drones is extremely low,” he added. “If a drone falls and injures someone, the owner can just walk away and ditch the cheap aircraft to shirk responsibility.”

Mr Feng adds that the authorities may exempt smaller amateur drones from registration — requiring instead the programming of no-fly zones into UAV systems before they reach the market.

China lacks comprehensive regulations to keep its swarms of drones, which consultancy Analysys says was worth 3.95 billion yuan (S$808 million) last year, in line.

“Drones are a typical instance where technology is ahead of regulation,” says Mr Oliver Wang, a spokesman for DJI, a Shenzhen-based market leader in drones.

“We are waiting for a clear set of laws saying how drones will be regulated and what the consequences will be. Companies are complying with what rules there are through self-discipline.”

In three recent and vaguely worded provisional guidelines, China has prohibited UAVs from flying in designated zones, including near densely populated cities, military bases and airports, and stipulated that drone pilots must receive training before sending their gadgets into the sky.

There are also rules that forbid illiterate and drunken people from flying drones.

More stringent rules, such as Beijing’s ban on flying inside the Sixth Ring Road — meaning pilots have to drive two hours out of town to set the machines airborne — have dampened market enthusiasm, DJI’s Mr Wang says.

“This is the price for safe and orderly skies, and there’s a lot more to be done,” says Mr Liu. “Drones should be treated like any other aircraft, not like toys, so safety should always come first.” CAIXIN ONLINE

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