DJI, the world’s largest drone maker based in Shenzhen, issued a statement Saturday saying that it has no plan to withdraw from the Chinese market, according to thepaper.cn.

It was a response to some media reports Friday that the company was planning to relocate its whole business overseas.

China’s civil aviation regulator has taken a range of measures to regulate the use of civilian unmanned aircraft over the past year as drone intrusions have posed serious threats to flight safety in the civil aviation industry.

According to previous media reports, during a symposium on the regulation of the drone industry held in Beijing earlier this month, DJI’s vice president Shao Jianhuo said that if the regulation on civilian drones had an unexpected influence on DJI’s development, the company would give up on the Chinese market and relocate its offices and its whole business overseas.

In the statement issued Saturday, DJI said that the media reports had been false and DJI had no plan to withdraw from the Chinese market.

The company said it had been paying close attention to safety issues caused by drones and would come up with practical measures to avoid risks.

DJI said that it would soon host a press conference to elaborate on the issue in more detail, without specifying when.

DJI occupies 70 percent of global market share in commercial drones and 80 percent of its sales come from the overseas market.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued its first-ever “traffic rules” for the operation of light-duty civilian unmanned aircraft in January last year. To issue specific regulations on the different types of drones being flown in the country, the CAAC has classified them into seven categories based on weight and functionality.

A national registration system was launched Thursday as the CAAC ordered all drone owners to register their product with their real name beginning June 1.

It is an effort to regulate the market and ensure flight safety aimed at cutting down cancellations and delays. Unmanned aerial vehicles have recently led to more than 200 flight intrusions at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.

In November 2015, a video captured by a private drone showed a Chinese fighter jet making a landing — but the drone almost hit the jet.

In recent years, drones have been widely used for agriculture, environmental protection and disaster relief missions in China.

It is also estimated that drone production and sales in the country are set to exceed 100 billion yuan, or US$15 billion in the next decade.

(Zhang Yang)

(Drone-related story on P4)