Their problems beyond their borders notwithstanding, civilian drones In China are forging ahead in discovering more ways in which they can be useful to industries and human life in general.
And one of the ways in which they are doing this is through speeding up China’s ambitious bid to reclaim its vast, arid landscapes. The drones have emerged as powerful tools, flying over the Kubuqi Desert in the inner Mongolia autonomous region each spring, autumn and winter to spread seeds, reinforce windbreaks and rejuvenate fragile ecosystems.
They have been doing this since 2018.
According to Li Ting, who has been involved in the operation to fight desertification and has been to the US and Singapore in search of knowledge, deploying the drones to stop the vanguard of land aridity is another way in which China’s drone use is leading the world in commercial drone applications.
"It has not only reduced the reliance on manual labour, but also significantly lowered operational costs and boosted efficiency. Drones allow workers to carry out their tasks regardless of weather conditions, as long as extreme weather does not occur," Li said.
Before drones, desert reclamation efforts were labour-intensive, with workers scattering plant seeds by hand across the vast, arid expanses of the desert. This method was slow, inefficient and costly, with limited coverage and uneven distribution of seeds, Li recalled.
It would take three to five people to manually sow seeds on a few dozen mu (A mu is a Chinese unit of land measurement that is equal to 666.67 square meters, or about 0.07 hectares) per day, at a daily labour cost of around 500 yuan ($69).
But now, a single drone can cover 300 mu daily at just 6 yuan per mu, making the process three to four times more efficient than manual labour.
"Drones significantly reduce costs and boost productivity, enabling large-scale desert reclamation projects on an unprecedented scale," said Li.
Xinhua News agency reports that Li's experiences mirror the broader drone revolution sweeping across various sectors in China, from agriculture to infrastructure, where such devices are delivering game-changing solutions to boost efficiency and productivity.
Of course, Xinhua are a Chinese news agency and they can be biased towards their country’s tech. but with the country boasting of companies like DJI, XAG, Autel and EHang, China does lead the world market on commercial drones; what with them combining affordability, quality and continuous technological advancements.
Li Lingling, general manager of E-Hawk, a drone manufacturer based in Central China's Hubei province, echoed this sentiment, noting that China boasts a higher UAV adoption rate than many advanced economies, thanks to its robust, well-developed industrial supply chain, which has significantly lowered production and research and development costs for Chinese drones.
"Drones made outside China are often more than three times as expensive as their Chinese counterparts," said Lingling, whose company started developing drones in 2014.
"China's UAV market has experienced explosive growth in recent years, but before that, companies like ours had been laying the groundwork in the sector for over 10 years."
The company’s drone market is forecast to experience continuous growth from 2024 to 2029, surpassing 600 billion yuan (about $84billion) by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.6 percent during this period; according to a report released by Zero Power Intelligence Group, an industry research company in China.
The expanding fleet of drones is now set to take on tasks once deemed too costly or dangerous for human workers, such as high-altitude work.
"Drones are not just changing industries, they are changing how we live," Lingling said, highlighting how drones are increasingly becoming a part of daily life, revolutionising logistics, work environments and even travel.
Li Feng, chairman of Yifei Aviation Technology Co Ltd, a drone maker in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, aims to make drones a new standard in animal husbandry. Founded in 2016, the company has developed two groundbreaking drone applications for husbandry.
One of their most notable creations is the "cow face recognition" drone, which can accurately identify individual cows by their faces, allowing farmers to track and monitor their herds with ease.
Another product is the herding speaker drone, which can be remotely controlled to guide straying herds back into designated areas, ensuring they stay on their intended paths.
"We hope our products will help reduce the need for constant human supervision and increase the efficiency in grazing," Li Feng said.
Zigui county of Hubei, renowned as the "hometown of Chinese navel oranges", now boasts a fleet of over 500 drones, which officials have hailed as a key driver of productivity in modern farming.
From pest control to harvesting, these drones have facilitated the full mechanization of agricultural operations.
"Achieving mechanized farming in mountainous terrain presents significant challenges, but drone technology is making it possible," said Song Xingjian, an official of the county government.
Looking to the future, business insiders believe that clearer policy planning and continuous technological innovation will further propel the industry's growth, providing a strong foundation for breakthroughs and accelerating expansion into new frontiers.
China's low-altitude economy, comprising both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, has been gaining momentum, prompting the National Development and Reform Commission to establish a dedicated department in 2024 to support its growth.
The new department is responsible for formulating and organizing the implementation of strategic as well as mid and long-term development plans, providing policy recommendations, and coordinating major issues related to the low-altitude economy. CCID Consulting projects the sector will exceed 1 trillion yuan by 2026.
As artificial intelligence, big data and the internet of things continue to integrate, drone performance is expected to improve, expanding their range of applications and miniaturization. These advances will make drones more compact and lightweight, boosting their potential in military, surveillance and consumer markets, said Guo Meng, an analyst with Zero Power Intelligence Group.