REGULATIONS / CN
China: drone rules for inspection
China's Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aircraft took effect on 1 January 2024 and require real-name registration of all civil unmanned aircraft. Aircraft are split into micro, light, small, medium and large classes, and small and larger aircraft need a pilot licence. Flights in controlled airspace (above 120 m true height, near airports, etc.) need approval requested by noon the previous day, while micro to small aircraft can fly in 'suitable airspace' without an application. Indoor flights are outside the regulation.
Checked against official sources
Fields are recorded in the language of the research notes.
| Authority | 国務院・中央軍事委員会（空域管理）、中国民用航空局 (CAAC) / State Council and Central Military Commission (airspace/flight management); Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) |
| Main framework | 《无人驾驶航空器飞行管理暂行条例》 (Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aircraft), in force 1 Jan 2024; CAAC CCAR-92 《民用无人驾驶航空器运行安全管理规则》 also from 1 Jan 2024 (CCAR-92 from prior knowledge). |
| Registration | All owners of civil unmanned aircraft must complete real-name registration (Art. 10). |
| Remote ID | Except for micro aircraft, operators must ensure identification information is reported to the integrated UAS supervision platform; micro, light and small aircraft must broadcast identification automatically in flight (Art. 24). |
| Pilot licensing | A licence is required to operate small, medium and large aircraft (Arts. 16-17); micro and light aircraft generally need none, but light-aircraft pilots flying in controlled airspace must complete training. |
| Risk categories | By performance: micro (<250 g empty, ≤50 m, ≤40 km/h), light (≤4 kg empty, MTOW ≤7 kg, ≤100 km/h), small (≤15 kg empty, MTOW ≤25 kg), medium (MTOW ≤150 kg), large (>150 kg) (Art. 62). Commercial operation additionally requires a CAAC operating qualification (prior knowledge). |
| BVLOS | No separate BVLOS category in the regulation; flights in controlled airspace (including above 120 m true height and around airports, borders and military zones) need ATM approval, applied for by 12:00 the day before (Art. 26). Micro, light and small aircraft may fly in 'suitable airspace' (outside controlled airspace) without a flight application (Art. 31). Detailed BVLOS safety requirements under CCAR-92: unverified. |
| Night & over people | Unverified in the text read. |
| Near structures | Controlled airspace includes areas around airports, military restricted zones and other key facilities; check local no-fly zones. Specific structure-proximity provisions: unverified. |
| Indoor & confined | Indoor flights are not covered by the regulation (Art. 57). |
| Imaging & privacy | Personal Information Protection Law (2021) and surveying/mapping and data-security laws restrict aerial imagery of sensitive sites (prior knowledge). |
| Recent changes | 2024-01-01: Interim Regulations and CCAR-92 take effect. Later amendments unverified. |
Sources
- 无人驾驶航空器飞行管理暂行条例（中国政府网）Full text read
Sources checked: 2026-10-22