Payload components that could obviously have military applications, or the potential to, are also included in the ban. These include infrared imaging devices, high-precision inertial measuring units, synthetic-aperture radars, high-performance indicating lasers, as well as wireless communication devices with a range beyond 50km (31 miles).
Consoles that can control more than 10 drones at the same time will also be restricted, as will general civilian counter-UAV equipment – drone jammers with an effective range of more than 5km or anti-drone lasers with an output power higher than 1.5kw.
In addition, export operators will still be punished for selling products not listed, “if they have known or reasonably should know that the export will be used for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist activities or military purposes”, said an announcement by the Ministry of Commerce.
[The] Chinese government firmly supports Chinese companies conducting international trade and cooperation of drones in civilian areas
Exporters in China will need to apply for approval of these dual-use items or technologies from the ministry, with evidence of the end users and their ultimate use.
For the items with “a significant impact on national security”, the ministry would report to the State Council, it said.
Failing to comply with the restriction could lead to administrative punishments, or even criminal charges, the ministry added.
The new measures could be seen as a result of Chinese manufacturers craving the international market, and owing to rising pressure from the United States and its allies’ sanctions citing weapon proliferation.
“[The] Chinese government firmly supports Chinese companies conducting international trade and cooperation of drones in civilian areas [and] opposes civilian drones being used for non-peaceful means,” the Ministry of Commerce said, adding that the decision was based on feedback from of a “wide range of stakeholders” in the past year.
With the latest restriction in place, last year’s “temporary measures”, such as limiting the maximum out-of-sight controllable operation time to only 30 minutes and the maximum take-off weight to under 7kg, will be revoked, effectively easing the restrictions on “consumer-grade drones”.
However, as “consumer” or “civilian” drones are being increasingly used in the likes of Ukraine and the Middle East for various purposes, including reconnaissance, surveillance, communication, or so-called suicide bombings, China’s UAV exports have been put under stricter scrutiny.
Made-in-China UAV components also believed to have played an important part in some countries’ own military or dual-use drone-making supply chains, especially among nations that are sanctioned by the West, including Russia and Iran,
However, they appear to account for only a small number of China’s exports of either whole UAVs or key parts, including radar or infrared thermal imagers, according to official Chinese customs statistics.
But the US and its G7 allies have accused China of providing key dual-use items, including drone parts, to Russian military industries and of being a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Just a day before China’s new restrictions were announced, the US Department of the Treasury added several individuals and entities based in mainland China and Hong Kong to its sanctions list for “procuring key components” for Iran’s ballistic-missile and UAV programmes.
The booming Chinese drone industry itself had already become a direct target of Washington in the escalating tech war.
US Congress passed a Countering CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Drones Act as part of this year’s annual National Defence Authorisation Act in July, which called the China’s DJI a “threat to national security”, following an existing ban from the Pentagon on buying or using drones and components manufactured in China since 2019.
Chinese authorities condemned “the imposition of illegal sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals by certain countries using the excuse of [proliferation of weapon-capable] drones”.
And they said China’s new export-control regulations were intended to “better safeguard China’s national security and interests, better serve the non-proliferation of weapons obligations, and benefit the security of the global supply chain”.
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