Recently, at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai campus in the United Arab Emirates, a staff member opened a mobile food delivery app, selected the dishes, and then chose the drone delivery location. About 10 minutes later, accompanied by a low and steady buzzing sound, the drone carrying the takeaway box slowly landed at the delivery cabinet of the college. Subsequently, Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum entered the verification code, took out the takeout box, and received steaming hot food. This successful delivery service was completed by drones under the Chinese company Meituan. This scene occurred at the launch ceremony of Dubai's drone logistics commercialization operation. Drone delivery, drone rescue, drone pesticide spraying, drone filming... In recent years, Chinese drones have rapidly emerged as an important player leading the development of the global drone industry with their excellent technical strength and service level. On December 17, 2024, local time, at the launch ceremony of the commercial operation of drone logistics in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announced that the Silicon Valley Oasis area had become the first commercial operation area, and issued the UAE's first over the horizon drone delivery commercial operation qualification certificate to Meituan drones. At the same time, Meituan also announced the normal operation of multiple drone routes in Dubai, which can provide fast food, emergency medicine and other product delivery services for residents in areas such as Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai Campus and Dubai Digital Industry Park. Tan Xiang, Executive Director of the China Laboratory Industry University Research Innovation Platform and Vice Chairman of the Low altitude Traffic and Economy Professional Committee of the China Transportation Association, stated in an interview with our reporter that the landing of Meituan's drone delivery in Dubai is a huge encouragement for the development of China's drone industry. Firstly, it further showcases China's "technological business card" of drones internationally; Secondly, it is conducive to reverse promoting the continuous improvement of the normalized operation mechanism of unmanned aerial vehicle logistics in China; Thirdly, it provides a case study for domestic drone companies to explore international markets. In recent years, Chinese civilian drones have become popular in the international market and have been exported to multiple countries and regions. On October 26, 2024, at the General Aviation and Low altitude Economic Development Forum of the China Air Transport Association, the association released the "2023-2024 Report on the Development of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The report shows that China has been the world's largest exporter of civilian drones for many years, accounting for over 70% of global patent applications in the field of drones and becoming the world's largest source of technology. According to data released by CCID Consulting's Intelligent Equipment Industry Research Center, the export value of China's civilian drones in 2022 and 2023 will both be around 1.8 billion US dollars. From January to October 2024, the total export value of China's civilian drones reached 1.736 billion US dollars. From the perspective of export value from January to October, the average monthly export value in the second half of 2024 is close to 200 million US dollars, and the export value for the whole year of 2024 is expected to exceed 2 billion US dollars. In addition, from January to October, the top ten destinations for China's civilian drone exports were the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Brazil, and Malaysia. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the technological system, Chinese civilian drones have shown strong performance in the global market, presenting characteristics such as high quality and low price, technological output, and integration of the entire industry chain into the local market Tan Xiang said. China's civilian drone technology system ranks among the top in the world. In the city of La Bida in the western state of Michoac á n, Mexico, 27 year old Jocelyn Mireles proficiently operates a Chinese brand DJI T30 agricultural drone to spray pesticides on crops such as corn, wheat, and strawberries. With the help of Chinese technology, she became one of the first professional female pilots in the local area to hold a flight permit through self-study and professional training. Eduardo Bribisca, a local resident of La Bida, and his family grow agave. Two years ago, he purchased a Chinese made agricultural drone to spray herbicides on several hectares of agave farmland, making his work more efficient. He calculated that in the past, weeding on each hectare of land required five people to work continuously for about an hour to complete, while using drones to spray herbicides only took 10 minutes. Arivito Lopez, director of the Agricultural Development Zone in La Plata, Mexico, said that agricultural drones can help the government and farmers better understand the growth of crops, monitor the number of crops per unit area, fertilizer efficiency, and pest and disease conditions. For example, data shows that the best watering time of the day is in the early morning, when the weather is cool, the wind is weak, the plant loses less water, and it is easier to absorb water, which can reduce the expected water consumption by 2/3. In the United States, farmer Hedrick is also one of the many beneficiaries of Chinese drones. In the past, a traditional ground spreader could cost up to 250000 US dollars, but the Chinese brand DJI drone only costs 35000 US dollars. This not only significantly reduces the cost of fertilization, but also reduces fertilizer waste through precise operations. Shen Xiaojun, the global market leader of DJI Agriculture, recently stated that the company's agricultural drone exports in 2024 have increased 32 times compared to 2017, with an annual growth rate of 66%. DJI exported its first agricultural drone to Japan in 2016, and its sales network has covered more than 100 countries and regions around the world, with corresponding application scenarios in these countries and regions. On a global scale, China's civilian drone technology system ranks among the top tier in the world. It is the trend for Chinese drones to go abroad Tan Xiang said that Chinese civilian drones have stood out and won widespread praise in the global market, mainly due to the combined effects of excellent performance, innovative material technology, high cost-effectiveness, a sound quality assurance system, strict control measures, and a wide range of application fields. On February 27, 2024, the Governor of Pest State in Hungary, Istvan, visited Sichuan Province, China for the first time to demonstrate stronger competitiveness and influence on the international stage. He visited and researched Chengdu Times Starlight Technology Group (hereinafter referred to as "Times Starlight"). Era Starlight "is a high-tech enterprise specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles, airports, unmanned aerial vehicle systems, and air ground integrated AI command and control systems. Previously, in December 2023, Time Star officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hungarian GN Airlines, announcing the establishment of a drone production base in Europe. Eastman said that during his trip to Sichuan, he saw many high-end technology products in China's drone industry. These products are unprecedented in overseas markets and are conceptual products for the future development of overseas drones. In the era of Starlight, these products have already been implemented and applied in many practical operations in emergency security and other fields. Hungary looks forward to taking this cooperation between the two companies as an opportunity to enter a new stage of transformation in the global civilian drone industry. In the future, the development trend of Chinese drones in the international market is worth looking forward to. It is expected to show a good trend of continuous expansion of market size, continuous technological innovation leading industry development, gradual enhancement of brand influence, increasingly perfect compliance and regulatory systems, and coordinated development of the industry chain Tan Xiang believes that these trends will jointly promote Chinese drone companies to demonstrate stronger competitiveness and influence on the international stage, injecting new vitality into the prosperous development of the global drone market. The Russian newspaper "The Independent" recently published an article stating that the global market for commercial drone delivery systems will grow at a rate of over 40% annually in the future. There are both opportunities and challenges for Chinese drones to enter the international market Tan Xiang said that in order to achieve better development of Chinese drones in the international market, Chinese drone companies need to strengthen their independent research and development capabilities, improve product quality and service levels, strengthen compliance management, deeply understand international rules, and expand diversified international market channels. At the same time, the Chinese government also needs to continue to introduce relevant policies to support the innovative development of the drone industry and help Chinese drones win more opportunities in the international market. (New Society)