MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2023) The annual output of China's drone industry surpassed the $16 billion mark in 2022 for the first time, media reported on Monday, citing the chairman of Shenzhen Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Industry Association, Yang Jincai.
The industry's annual output reached 117 billion yuans ($16 billion) last year, which is 34% more than the 87 billion yuans it grossed in 2021, Yang was cited by the South China Morning Post newspaper as saying at the seventh Drone World Congress.
In 2022, the total number of drones produced in China reached 95,000, which is over 70% of the world's consumer drones and about 50% of its industrial drones, while the number of drone-producing companies rose to more than 15,000, which is a 25% increase compared with 2021, the newspaper said.
The sharp growth in China's drone output is due to a combination of factors, including the burgeoning demand for contact-free parcel deliveries since the COVID-19 pandemic and the boost to domestic drone production as a result of US trade sanctions, the newspaper opined.
In October, the US Department of Defense blacklisted 13 Chinese companies, including DJI Technology, China's largest manufacturer of commercial drones.
