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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) — At a training base for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operators in east China's Changzhou City, Huang Yushuo, a 20-year-old student at Jiangsu University of Technology, is taking a UAV training course during his summer vacation, where he squeezes a joystick and performs a series of actions such as hovering at a fixed point, rotating in the air, etc.
Huang Yushuo's classmate is Feng Yujia, a graduate student at Shanghai-based Fudan University, who told China's Keji Ribao (science and technology daily): "I want to get a [drone operator] license to improve my competitiveness when looking for a job in the future."
As of the end of 2024, there were 2.177 million registered UAVs in China, while there were just over 247,000 licensed pilots, the newspaper reported. In July 2025, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China included UAV group flight planner in the national occupation list, which was another positive development for the UAV industry.
Thanks to a series of incentives, the drone industry has begun to grow rapidly in China. Against this backdrop, the drone pilot profession is rapidly gaining popularity in the country, which has caused a boom in the desire to obtain a permit to fly civilian drones.
HUGE POTENTIAL OF THE UAV MARKET
The UAV industry is one of the major low-altitude economy sectors that is rapidly developing in China and is included in the list of emerging strategic industries in the country.
In 2024 and 2025, the phrase “low-altitude economy” was included twice in the government work report presented at the annual session of the National People's Congress, demonstrating its important role in the country's economic development.
China's Nongmin Ribao (Peasant Daily) newspaper, citing a forecast by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, reports that the market size of China's low-altitude economy will be 1.5 trillion yuan (about $210 billion) in 2025, and could reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.
Why do we need drones? The answer to this question focuses on “unmanned”, which reveals the indispensability of UAVs in high-risk situations for people. In some areas of China, including Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, drones are replacing “Spiderman” in cleaning the glass exterior walls of high-rise buildings and solar photovoltaic panels, which is a safer and more efficient solution for performing dangerous tasks for people. In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, a drone is involved in the emergency delivery of drugs to save patients in critical condition.
The global civil UAV market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 19% in the next five years. In 2029, the commercial UAV market in China will exceed RMB 300 billion, with logistics, plant protection, surveying and mapping, aerial transportation, and inspection being the main driving forces for the market.
The widespread use of UAVs has also led to the emergence of a new profession in China: drone pilot. The “Interim Regulations on UAV Flight Management” that came into effect in China in January 2024 clearly stipulate that small, medium and large UAVs must obtain relevant licenses to operate. Such requirements open up huge opportunities for the development of UAV pilot training services.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE LEVEL OF TRAINING OF A UAV PILOT
Data from China's National Civil UAV Integrated and Comprehensive Supervision Platform shows that as of July 31, 2025, there were 3,579 UAV pilot training institutions registered across the country, up from 1,343 at the end of 2024. However, the rapid increase in the number of such institutions has caused a number of problems. For example, some institutions are not fully qualified, resulting in extensive management methods, lack of clear standards for tuition fees, and declining course quality.
However, ordinary pilots make up the lion's share of UAV operators in China. The country is experiencing an acute shortage of highly skilled professionals who possess complex skills such as aerial photography and mapping, plant protection, inspection, and drone flight control. The structural imbalance in this field has become a source of concern for Chinese society.
"UAV operator training is a developing field, and in its development, there is often a problem of chaotic expansion," said Sun Tao, head of the Shanghai-based Pilot's Home aviation club.
In his opinion, since the capabilities of educational institutions in training UAV pilots vary greatly, relevant departments should raise the entry threshold, further strengthen supervision, and combat false propaganda and illegal organization of training sessions. Industry associations should promote the establishment of a classified certification system and pay attention to practical training, he emphasized.
Sun Tao believes that it is necessary to clarify the skill requirements of junior, intermediate and advanced pilots. Junior pilots can focus on basic operations and simple tasks, intermediate pilots should be able to handle complex scenarios, while senior pilots should master deep industry knowledge and comprehensive management capabilities. He proposed developing special courses for application scenarios such as plant protection, inspection and aerial photography to ensure that the training content accurately matches the needs of the industry.
According to the Chinese newspaper Nongmin Zhibo, vocational schools are the educational institutions that are most closely integrated with industry. About a decade ago, the UAV industry in Suzhou City in east China's Jiangsu Province picked up speed, and it developed particularly rapidly in the agricultural sector. In January 2018, Suzhou Agricultural Vocational College was among the first universities in Jiangsu Province to apply for a major in applied technology for unmanned aerial vehicle applications, aiming to train qualified professionals in the agricultural sector.
The booming UAV industry has been accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of higher vocational schools in China offering courses in drone application technology, with the number now reaching 523.
In addition, there are currently 31 universities in China that have opened a new undergraduate major related to UAV system development. In the second half of 2024, six Chinese universities, including Beijing Aerospace University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Northwest Industrial University, Nanjing Aerospace University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and South China Polytechnic University, opened a new major called “Low-Altitude Technology and Engineering.” They have completed the recruitment work this year. -0-
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