Hello Guys,

I will be travelling to China in the end of this month, and I am planning to bring my Mavic Pro there. I saw the news about the requirement of registering drones weighing above 250grams if you want to fly one in China. Can anyone tell me how should I do it, and if this can be done even before I arrived there? It would be sucks to require a local phone number (if needed) to register after arriving in China.

Thanks before!

There is no registration currently being enforced in China. But they will do it eventually no-one knows for sure. If you are already registered with the FAA that's a good safety measure since the CAAC (Chinese FAA ) is aware of this and has access to that info, in the case of an eventuality  the might need it. Basically follow all FAA regulations and you should be ok. Update your offline maps and click on the option to recalibrate the maps to china since there is a discrepancy in the GPS coordinates when being used here (see attached picture). I currently hold a license from the aerosports federation of China, which acts as a formal flight registration. Just follow the guidelines and ask before flight, if you coming to Beijing remember the city is a complete NFZ, also the 5 miles radius around airports is in effect and in the local maps we do have exclusions for flying in the approach and takeoff pattern of the airports which extends further from the 5 miles radius. For everything else just use common sense and you should be gold.

Cheers!  

Red rectangle: no fly
Recommendation: do not fly in the urban areas, such as Chengdu, Beijing, Chongqing and so on，

Thanks a lot guys for the guides. I am mainly capturing natural landscapes so I will keep it in mind never to fly in the urban areas

I'm in China now and was blocked from using DJI Go4 for the first time just yesterday. I emailed support and below is the response I received:
"Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.
Sorry to hear your issue. Due to the real-name system is a must step in China. We are afraid that if you do not fill a mainland Chinese phone number, the drone would not fly and work fine. You can consider to register a phone number or ask a Chinese friend for help.
We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Thank you and have a wonderful day ahead. "

JMcGowen Posted at 2017-6-4 05:49
I'm in China now and was blocked from using DJI Go4 for the first time just yesterday. I emailed support and below is the response I received:
"Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.
Sorry to hear your issue. Due to the real-name system is a must step in China. We are afraid that if you do not fill a mainland Chinese phone number, the drone would not fly and work fine. You can consider to register a phone number or ask a Chinese friend for help.

Thanks for the information. So looks like I will need to get a sim card, which I will eventually since I need an internet connection whenever available. Hopefully this will works. Please let me know if you can make it work by just using a local sim card there, and how/where we can fill the chinese phone number.

purple_dreamer Posted at 2017-6-5 07:36
Thanks for the information. So looks like I will need to get a sim card, which I will eventually since I need an internet connection whenever available. Hopefully this will works. Please let me know if you can make it work by just using a local sim card there, and how/where we can fill the chinese phone number.

Yes you can do it with the sim card, because when you buy it it will be registered under your name, if you buy it in a store they will request for you id.

AACY Posted at 2017-6-5 18:42
Yes you can do it with the sim card, because when you buy it it will be registered under your name, if you buy it in a store they will request for you id.

By the way, this is how the NFZ looks like in here in China.

You must register your drone through the link below. It has been enforced since last month. Holding any license from anywhere or registration under FAA anywhere won't made you exempted from this registration. Apart from this, you also require to print out the QR code they give you and stick onto the body of your drone.

https://uas.caac.gov.cn/Factory/Login/login.html

isaacchu Posted at 2017-6-6 03:38
You must register your drone through the link below. It has been enforced since last month. Holding any license from anywhere or registration under FAA anywhere won't made you exempted from this registration. Apart from this, you also require to print out the QR code they give you and stick onto the body of your drone.

https://uas.caac.gov.cn/Factory/Login/login.html

Wowww!!! Great,  thanks for posting this, you are the best!
Just finished registering. apparently they already had my data into the system, just need it to register the Serial # of the drone. Looks like the database of ASFC (Aero Sports Federation of China) is linked directly to CAAC.

PS: To the ones that will register, you can find DJI's name as:

大疆创新

AACY Posted at 2017-6-6 05:11
Wowww!!! Great,  thanks for posting this, you are the best!
Just finished registering. apparently they already had my data into the system, just need it to register the Serial # of the drone. Looks like the database of ASFC (Aero Sports Federation of China) is linked directly to CAAC.

Thanks for the info. and I went to the website. It is all in Chinese and I do not read and write Chinese. Is there an English version? BTW, I am going to China in Sept and also planning to bring my Mavic Pro with me..

steventeo Posted at 2017-6-6 06:10
Thanks for the info. and I went to the website. It is all in Chinese and I do not read and write Chinese. Is there an English version? BTW, I am going to China in Sept and also planning to bring my Mavic Pro with me..

If you are using Chrome when you get on the website just right click, this will show an option to translate in English the entire website.

You might need to have a phone number here in China, to get the verification code in order to register. I am not sure if the system will work with a foreign phone#.

If not, then just wait until you come in and get a sim card and then register. The process in overall took me about 2 minutes, and they generate the QR code immediately.

Hope this helps.

Here is the extract from the CAAC's news board regarding registration.

http://www.caac.gov.cn/en/XWZX/201705/t20170524_44222.html

Maybe DJI could add a prompt message when opening the app to encourage pilots to register ;-)

Just a quick update since I have just returned from China and flew several times there. I am not sure if the registration is needed as I did try to take-off before registering and it worked just fine. Before the next flights I did register my drone just in case it would require me to do so, as that would be bad to be forced to be connected to the internet to register while deep inside the mountain area.

steventeo Posted at 2017-6-6 06:10
Thanks for the info. and I went to the website. It is all in Chinese and I do not read and write Chinese. Is there an English version? BTW, I am going to China in Sept and also planning to bring my Mavic Pro with me..

Hello, do you have any information if is possible to fly in China? i'm planning buy a DJI Spark but i dont know where is allowed to fly, for example in Great Wall (Mutuanyi), Buda of Leshan and other places. Regards!!

Maurosh86 Posted at 2017-8-17 09:42
Hello, do you have any information if is possible to fly in China? i'm planning buy a DJI Spark but i dont know where is allowed to fly, for example in Great Wall (Mutuanyi), Buda of Leshan and other places. Regards!!

BTW i'll go to China in Sept too

Mmmhhhh, is it my browser (firefox, chrome)?

https://uas.caac.gov.cn/Factory/Login/login.html

This uas.caac.gov.cn page can’t be found
No webpage was found for the web address: https://uas.caac.gov.cn/Factory/Login/login.html
HTTP ERROR 404

http://www.caac.gov.cn/en/XWZX/201705/t20170524_44222.html

Error 404--Not Found
From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:
10.4.5 404 Not Found

The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI. No indication is given of whether the condition is temporary or permanent.

Because I am flighing to China, this month too.
How to make sure, to fly my Spark in China?
Sim Card/phone call enough?

Everything is pretty clear with registration.
But how to obtain commercial license? I'd like to sell footage that I'm going to take in China.
I've translated (with google translate) CAAC documents from Chinese to English - https://uas.caac.gov.cn/login/download/file/1.  But I haven't noticed anything about process of getting license for using your drone for commercial purposes.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.

AACY Posted at 2017-6-3 11:15
There is no registration currently being enforced in China. But they will do it eventually no-one knows for sure. If you are already registered with the FAA that's a good safety measure since the CAAC (Chinese FAA ) is aware of this and has access to that info, in the case of an eventuality  the might need it. Basically follow all FAA regulations and you should be ok. Update your offline maps and click on the option to recalibrate the maps to china since there is a discrepancy in the GPS coordinates when being used here (see attached picture). I currently hold a license from the aerosports federation of China, which acts as a formal flight registration. Just follow the guidelines and ask before flight, if you coming to Beijing remember the city is a complete NFZ, also the 5 miles radius around airports is in effect and in the local maps we do have exclusions for flying in the approach and takeoff pattern of the airports which extends further from the 5 miles radius. For everything else just use common sense and you should be gold.

Cheers!

Hi. Today is March 2, 2018. Do you know if there are any updates to the China policy? I'm bringing a Mavic Pro there in 2 weeks and am striking out finding any information on the Internet about any forms I  might need to fill out..

fans95f95ac9 Posted at 2018-3-2 10:39
Hi. Today is March 2, 2018. Do you know if there are any updates to the China policy? I'm bringing a Mavic Pro there in 2 weeks and am striking out finding any information on the Internet about any forms I  might need to fill out..

From what I can see, when you arrive in china, grab yourself a sim card and register with the CAAC website, and take a copy of your insurance. I'm going in April so have been bashing my head trying to work it out !

Hello there,
registration process seems pretty clear,
but do you have any tips on how to print out QR code to stick it on the drone?
I can imagine that it might be quite a pain to find some printing place with no knowledge of chinesse. Especially if there might be a problem for locals to understand english.

Mine is already on the drone, it came with it otherwise print it on some sticker paper.

Well, China registration guide says that after you add your device to your account they will email you some QR code and you need to print it and stick it to the drone. That pretty much sounds to me like a different QR code than the one that is originaly on the drone. (Or are they able to generate you the same QR code that is already on the drone?)

I am asking on tips how can I get the new QR code printed in China if I dont speak Chinesse.

Hi I am travelling back to China in the Summer. I will be taking my Spark and Mavic. I have just registered both my drones on the CACC website using a Chinese sim card. I was then sent two certificates to confirm they are registered. Luckily for me my wife is Chinese which certainly helped.Process quite straightforward but you will need to be able to read Chinese.

Hi, I am travelling to China in June... will it be a problem to arrive at the airport without having my mavic registered at the CAAC website (as I do not have a chinese number yet)? the soonest I can put my hands on a chinese sim card is at the airpot, but I guess customs (and drone verification by chinesse authorities) is before that...

I also noticed I need to have insurance for the drone? any advice on that?

Best,

I just spent 4 hours to help a Mexican friend to register her drone when she travels to China.

During which I realized how hard it is for foreigners to register any drone if (normally) you can’t read Chinese and don’t have a Mainland Chinese mobile number (+86).

Especially the registration system has many IT bugs and you definitely will waste a lot of time reading Q&As as I did.

Also there is a new regulation in China that you need a Chinese ID card to purchase a SIM card when you arrived China. So please do consider to arrange well before you travel.

Therefore I am glad to offer the registration service at 19.99 USD per drone:

Supported model:
Mavic Pro
Mavic 2
Mavic Air
Spark
And all other brands and models that the registration system allows

Contact email: BRANDYWANG@OUTLOOK.COM