China's Interim Regulation on the Administration of the Flight of Unmanned Aircraft took effect on Jan 1 this year. According to the regulations, civilian drone owners are required to register their UAVs before flying them. You can use the "Suishenban 随申办" app or WeChat mini-program to complete the registration process with a few clicks.

[Photo/IC]

First, enter the "Suishenban" app or mini-program on WeChat or Alipay, and type in "无人机(UAV)" in the search bar, and click the "无人机(UAV)" section.

Then, click the section of "个人无人机录入(Register personal UAV)". 

Type in the UAV's serial number and model as well as your address, name and passport number (or number of your permanent residence card) before submitting the information. 

Now wait for the process to be completed. You can check the progress of this step at "我的(Me)" - "我的办件(My affairs)"

According to the Interim Regulation on the Administration of the Flight of Unmanned Aircraft, UAV flights are not allowed in controlled airspace without approval from the air traffic management agency.

Due to temporary control measures, the areas open for flying often change. Before flying, you can use Suishenban's "Report a flight(飞行报告)" service to check if an area is available for flying in order to prevent your drone from entering restricted areas.

Type in the address with street name and number where you want to fly your drone as well as information such as planned flight radius and altitude to check if the area is open for drone flights. 

If you want to change the ownership of your drone, you can use the "Unbind UAV" service. This service allows the registered phone number linked to the drone to be unbound. The new user can then log in to the "Suishenban" app to register the drone.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Security