Beijing will ban owning, storing or flying drones anywhere in the city from 15 November 2026. The Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress adopted the revised rules on 11 September, Beijing Daily reported on the city government’s website. Bringing drones or their core parts into the city is banned too.
Residents have until then to get rid of them. They can carry drones out themselves by air, rail or road. The city also runs buyback points chosen by each district, scrap points, and free EMS postage to any address outside Beijing.
The buyback pays a subsidy of 30 percent of the price, up to 3,000 yuan a drone, until 31 October. From 1 to 14 November it falls to 15 percent, up to 1,500 yuan. Scrapping pays 200 yuan a drone, then 100. Only drones owned by individuals and registered with the police qualify.
After the deadline police will inspect, and anyone still holding drones will be dealt with strictly under the law, the article said. Units with special security duties follow national rules instead.
The new rules replace ones in force since 1 May, adopted on 27 March. Those made the whole city controlled airspace, where every outdoor flight needed approval. They banned selling or renting drones and 17 listed core parts in Beijing, with exemptions after a safety check for work such as disaster relief, research, farming and schools.
The May rules also banned new storage sites, and any inside the Sixth Ring Road, while letting each person keep up to three drones. Owners had to have their drones checked by the police by 31 July. That check is over, and the city has not said how many drones it covered.
The city gave the capital’s security as the reason for the change and named no incident. On the same 1 May, two national standards took effect across China, requiring every civil drone to be registered in its owner’s real name and activated before it can fly, and to broadcast its identity and position in flight.
Drones still in Beijing on 15 November will be illegal to keep.
