China's Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) released on Monday a document on the regulation of commercial flights of civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), a move to strengthen supervision of the market and promote the industry's orderly development, Chinese experts said.
"The document improves management and sets a regulation reference for commercial flights of civilian UAVs," an unidentified official from the CAA told the Beijing Business Today.
The document clearly defines the conditions and application procedure for a business license, and methods to supervise and administer commercial UAV flights.
China's development of UAVs has entered a new phase as the technology is being widely used in multiple fields such as geographical mapping, environmental monitoring and aerial photography.
The massive market demand has brought challenges on how to manage the vehicles.
According to the CAA, the document applies to UAVs with a net weight of 250 grams or more that are used for aerial spraying, aerial photography, flight shows, and for training UAV pilots.
The new document will help establish a scientific administration system for UAV flights, which will make full use of UAVs in different industries and promote China's economic development, Luo Liang, a professor at South China's Guangzhou Civil Aviation College, was quoted as saying by the Beijing Business Today.
The document also clarifies basic conditions for company applicants and situations in which the CAA will deny applications and recall or invalidate licenses. The CAA regulation will come into force on June 1.
