Firm lines for blue-sky thinkers

China is tightening controls on export of some drones and powerful computers and will require firms to register to ensure they do not “compromise national security”, according to state media.

According to the report, China has sold around 1,60,000 drones in the first five months only, recording an impressive growth of 70 per cent in comparison to what was recorded past year.

Officials cautioned manufacturers on Friday to seek government certification before exporting drones that can fly in gusty winds, reaching heights of 15,420 for one hour or longer. Chinese media has claimed that its CH-4 drone as being superior to the US-made MQ-1 Predator.

Including drones and high-performance computers in export controls will help provide a safe trade environment for companies, promote healthy development of the industries and better fulfill global obligations, said MOC spokesman Shen Danyang at a monthly press conference.

“The ban is targeting drones not designed for commercial use, and will protect key technologies of Chinese companies”, said Shao Jianhuo, DJI vice-president.

“It was a surprise decision for the industry”, he said.

DJI announced after a review of the new regulation that none of its drones will be affected by the ban. China based DJI is the world leader in manufacturing consumer drones, although the restrictions have only been inflicted on the military-scale aircraft and not the small drones.

“We have prepared well for this, because most domestic drone makers are export-oriented”.

Since June 2013 China’s Tianhe-2 has headed the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful computers, with the machine capable of 33.86 petaflops (quadrillions of calculations per second).

In addition to submitting drones for registration, Chinese companies will also be required to submit technical specifications for such technology exports, as well as export contracts detailing who the recipient will be and what the recipient intends to do with the technology.

U.S. authorities recently issued a ban against the use of China-made supercomputer processors for information security reasons.