Chinese Commerce Ministry announced in September banning drones and drone equipments export due to their use in warfares and terrorist activities. The ministry stated that this decision will prevent using drones as tools in warfares and terrorist activities, and vendors who sell drone equipments will now require permission to export their drones parts.

This ban emerged because of allegations from US media reporting that China sold more than $12 million (around Є10.8 million) drones to Russia for military purposes in their war against Ukraine. US officials said that China and Russia are collaborating  to produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia, as drones are becoming an important asset in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied any allegations towards the country, claiming that the cooperation between Beijing and Moscow `does not target any third party`. An online statement quotes: `China’s modest expansion of the scope of drone control this time is an important measure to demonstrate its commitment as a responsible major country to implement global security initiatives and maintain world peace,´.  

Current allegations from the US are justified by evidence from CNN, showing a downed Weaponized Chinese drone that had targetted Ukrainian army. Even though, China keeps denying these allegations by claiming that companies had taken the initiative to stop supplying parties using their drones for `non-peaceful purpose´.

Controlling the export process

China´s new measures to control the export process proves that the country does not tolerate the use of their drones in warfares and does not target any specific country.  A professor of law at Singapore Management University, Henry Gao, said that these restrictions existed for the past two decades. Gao adds that these new measures might `further worsen the tensions between the US and China and make it more difficult for firms in both countries to do business,´. A significant amount of drones used in the US are made by giant Chinese drone manufacturer DJI.

Is this ban a response to the US banning the use of Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles in the country? The situation between the two countries intensifies with the latest measures implemented by both sides.  

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