How to register a drone in China

Instructions for registering a drone in China:

If you want to fly a drone to take photos or videos in China, you have to have to register it via the Civil Aviation Authority website, the CAAC, in advance. The individual steps required for registration are explained below.

Signing up an user account:

Zunächst ist es nötig, ein Benutzerkonto zu eröffnen. Hierzu auf die Schaltfläche "Neuen Account registrieren" klicken.
A local Chinese cell phone number is required for the registration.

After all mandatory information has been provided and the required photos of the ID document have been uploaded, the registration of the user account can be completed. You can then log into the newly opened account.

Registration of a drone within the user account:

There are two ways to log into the user account:
- Über den gewählten Benutzernamen, das Kennwort und einen per SMS auf die chinesische Handynummer zugesandten Code.
- Über die chinesische Handynummer und einen per SMS zugesandten Code.

Unfortunately, the manufacturer´s search only works with Chinese characters. It makes sense to either search on Google, Bing or Baidu for the brand in Chinese, copy the relevant characters and paste them into the manufacturer´s search.

The following characters can be used for DJI drones: 大疆

In the following step, each a picture of the drone as well as of the serial number are required. These must be uploaded in .jpg, .jpeg or .gif format.

The registration of the drone is now complete and the newly created aircraft is displayed in the overview list.

The now available QR code for the drone can be sent directly to the email, used for registration. This must be printed out and visibly attached to the aircraft.

Anyone who would like to know more about drone laws in China and other countries around the world, or simply about flying drones in general, should visit the site Drone-Camp.de and have a closer look.