Beijing drone owners rush to sell before possession ban

Beijing drone owners are queuing at authorised buy-back sites to sell their devices before a citywide ban on drone possession and storage takes effect on November 15.

The new rules in the Chinese capital ban not only the flying of unmanned aerial vehicles but also keeping or storing them inside the city. Beijing authorities have cited the need to “safeguard the security of the capital.”

AFP saw queues at several authorised buyer sites this week, with police visible at the locations. At a DJI flagship store in Beijing’s business district, around a dozen people waited on Thursday morning to sell drones back.

Owners can sell devices through approved buy-back points and receive a government subsidy of 30 percent of the resale value, capped at 3,000 yuan, before October 31. The subsidy falls to 15 percent until November 14. They can also recycle a drone for 200 yuan or ship it out of Beijing free of charge.

A 48-year-old owner surnamed Wu told AFP he thought the ban was reasonable because Beijing was the capital and the government wanted to manage airspace safety. He said he bought his drone six years ago for around 6,000 yuan and hoped to receive at least 1,000 yuan.

Another owner, a 60-year-old hobbyist surnamed Zhu, called the buy-back scheme “robbery” and said he had lost thousands after selling five drones. Zhu said the volume of drones being bought back had pushed prices down by as much as 40 percent.

The rules tighten measures announced earlier in the year, after Beijing had already prohibited drone sales and required owners to register devices while still allowing them to keep them. Owners who do not dispose of drones or move them out of Beijing by November 15 risk confiscation and fines.

Airspace safety concerns rose in June when a light aircraft hit Beijing’s tallest building, killing the pilot and injuring 13 others, while briefly disrupting a flight path into one of the capital’s international airports.

A low-altitude expo scheduled to open in Beijing on Thursday was abruptly cancelled, with organisers citing control measures from the city government. The Civil Aviation Administration said 3.285 million drones were registered nationwide at the end of 2025, though drone ownership does not have to be registered in most of China.