In order to strengthen the management of civil unmanned aerial vehicles (civil UAVs), CAAC issued the Regulations on Real-name Registration of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (the Regulations) on May 16, which requires the owners of civil UAVs to register in real name starting June 1, 2017.

The Regulations applies to civil UAVs in the People's Republic of China whose maximum takeoff weight is above 250 grams (inclusive). A civil UAV is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard but equipped with a flight control system, which is not used for military, police and customs missions. Radio controlled aero-models, unmanned free balloons and tethered balloons are not included in civil UAVs. The Regulations requires that starting June 1, 2017, civil UAV manufacturers and owners must apply for an account in the CAAC UAV Real-name Registration System (https://uas.caac.gov.cn) (the registration system). Manufacturers should fill in all the information of its products in the system and owners register in the system information of their products in real name and stick the registration mark given by the system on the UAV.

The Regulations stresses that from August 31, 2017, civil UAV owners failing to register in real name and stick the registration marks in accordance with the Regulations will be regarded as violating the law and will be subject to limitations with respect to the use of UAVs and punishment by regulatory authorities in accordance with relevant regulations. At the meantime, UAV owners shall promptly de-register the UAV information in the registration system after the UAV is sold, transferred, damaged, discarded, lost, or stolen; and when the ownership of the UAV is changed, the current owner shall register the UAV information in real name in accordance with the relevant requirements in the Regulations.