The city had already banned unapproved outdoor drone flights in August 2025, but recently stepped up its security measures after a small plane crashed into Beijing's tallest building in June.
Announcing the possession ban in September, Beijing's government said it was intended to "firmly strengthen the capital's security defences".
Coming soon to the West!
"The interesting story here is really the tension between encouraging innovation and controlling the risks that come with it," Dr Lee said, adding that the same tension was seen in the development of humanoid robots and autonomous driving.
Beijing has always been over the top with security. When I went there in 2018 there were military guards at every train station. It will be interesting to see whether other cities in China follow this lead.
This is wild - Beijing already banned outdoor flights Aug 2025, now possession ban after small plane hit tallest building in June.
Question: How will they enforce disposal? Buyback or just surrender? In West we saw similar panic after Gatwick 2018 but never went to full possession ban. Feels like Beijing testing what West will copy - OP said "Coming soon to the West!" might be right.
Anyone here been to Beijing recently? OP mentioned military guards at every train station in 2018, has it gotten worse?
Beijing bans drones after one small plane crash, classic. It was never about safety, it's about monopoly on surveillance. Citizens can't have eyes in the sky, but the state can. First they banned unapproved flights in 2025, now possession. Same pattern coming West: one incident = ban tools for everyone. Decentralization is the only defense, you can't ask permission to fly.