The Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the city's drone rules on September 13. Starting November 15, every district in the Chinese capital will be off-limits to drone flights entirely, and it will become illegal for any organization or individual to even possess or store a drone, or its core components, anywhere within city limits. Foreign media outlets have linked the near-total clearance order to a light aircraft crash into Beijing's CITIC Tower this past June.
A Second Crackdown In Six Months
According to the Associated Press, Beijing's previous drone rules were only passed in March and took effect on May 1. That version already banned drone sales within the city and designated the entire municipality as controlled airspace to block unauthorized flights, but it still allowed owners who completed real-name registration to keep their devices under strict conditions.
The newly passed amendment scraps that allowance altogether. Under the revised rules, all of Beijing becomes controlled airspace as of November 15, with flights banned outright except for designated official duties and approved projects. Possessing or storing a drone or its core components will be prohibited citywide, individuals and institutions will be barred from bringing such equipment into the capital, and setting up any drone warehouse, temporary storage site or holding facility within the city will be strictly forbidden. The law carves out narrow exceptions only for counterterrorism, public security, emergency search and rescue, major events, teaching and research, and manufacturing, and even then only after the relevant institution establishes a safety management system and secures approval under national regulations.
Three Ways To Get Rid Of A Drone Before The Deadline
Japan's NHK reported that Beijing Daily, the official newspaper of the city's Communist Party committee, framed the revision as an effort to "genuinely build a solid security shield for the capital," and authorities have urged current drone owners to move their devices out of the city or dispose of them as quickly as possible.
China Daily reported that Beijing's identity-verification and registration process for drones, which launched in May, closed on July 31, and the old registration system will be scrapped once the new law takes effect on November 15. To help residents clear out their equipment before the deadline, authorities have set up three exit options: selling devices to the government for a buyback or scrapping them at official facilities, shipping them out of the city for free, or transporting them out on their own.
Owners who sell their drones to buyback companies certified by district governments, or hand them over to government-designated disposal and recycling facilities, receive a subsidy of 100 to 3,000 yuan per unit, on top of any resale proceeds, roughly the equivalent of NT$450 to NT$13,500.
Between September 12 and November 14, owners can also ship their devices to an address outside Beijing free of charge through China Post's EMS express service after verification. Those who prefer to transport a drone out themselves must move it beyond Beijing's city limits by plane, train or road before November 15.
The Associated Press noted that Beijing's security controls have long been far stricter than those in other Chinese provinces and cities, which generally require only real-name registration for outdoor drone flights; Beijing had already banned visitors from bringing drones into the capital before this latest revision. Beijing police have announced they will carry out comprehensive inspections once the new law takes effect, and anyone who fails to remove a drone in time or stores one illegally will have it confiscated, with individuals and companies facing potential legal liability.
