THE Nanshan District Government hopes to build on the existing 200 drone manufacturers in its district and create a drone manufacturing and development hub, according to the district government’s work report delivered by Wang Qiang, the head of the district.
Seven out of 10 drones in the world are made in China, with most produced in Nanshan District.
Wang said the district government is going to offer strong support to drone makers, including Nanshan-based industry giants DJI and AEE Aviation Technology. The district’s goal is to build a global center of drone research and production.
The only three drone-making enterprises that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology inspected Feb. 25 were all based in Nanshan District.
Well-known drone manufactures in Nanshan include DJI, AEE Aviation Technology, Zero Tech, Smart Drone and Flypro. One research institution, the UVA research center of Northwestern Polytechnical University, is also in Nanshan. It’s rumored that Tencent has been secretly developing palm-sized drones.
Among some 200 drone enterprises in Nanshan, DJI is the most famous. The company announced the launch of an after-sale support service called DJI Care in the U.S. and Europe in February.
DJI holds approximately 70 percent of the global market of small-sized consumer drones and employs more than 3,000 staff members. Having set up three branch companies in the U.S., Germany and Japan, DJI recently opened its second flagship store in Seoul, South Korea. The first DJI flagship store is in Shenzhen.
Another popular drone company, Smart Drone, was formerly a model aircraft business known as Art-Tech. The company started to specialize in developing drones in October of 2014 and has grown in popularity by creating drones that can fly about three times longer than the products of competitors.
AEE Aviation Technology is the only drone maker that was involved in the drafting of industrial standards with the Ministry of Public Security.
The company has its own research institution and manufacturing base in Shenzhen. In 2012, AEE opened a factory in the U.S. and branch companies in Germany, France and Hong Kong.
Statistics collected by Chinese customs show that the export of drones from Shenzhen last year was worth 3.09 billion yuan (US$472.1 million), seven times more than that of 2014. Most of the drones exported to the U.S. and Europe were manufactured in Nanshan.
Industry experts said that Nanshan District offers a good industrial environment for drone makers to purchase the accessories they need. About 2,000 to 3,000 separate electronic pieces are needed to assemble one drone.
The universities and research institutions in the area provide drone companies with highly skilled employees.
Nanshan’s proximity to Hong Kong and ports also helped the drone industry flourish in the area.
(Zhang Qian)
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