BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) -- A mandatory national standard on real-name registration and activation requirements for civil unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will take effect on May 1, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said Thursday.

Aimed at establishing a traceable management system that covers the entire life cycle, the standard is expected to provide basic guarantees for public safety, airspace order, and individual rights and interests.

The standard applies to all civil UAVs engaging in flight operations outdoors, regardless of their purpose, source, or ownership, the CAAC said.

China's registered UAV fleet totaled nearly 3.29 million units by the end of 2025, a 51-percent increase year on year, the CAAC said in its 2025 statistical bulletin on civil aviation industry development.

It added that UAV flight hours surged to 45.3 million in 2025, up 69.9 percent from the previous year.

Industrial data also showed a dramatic rise in the country's drone sector. According to a report recently released at the 9th Digital China Summit in Fuzhou, the total output value of China's civil UAVs reached 176.1 billion yuan (about 25.66 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up approximately 20 percent year on year. Of that total, industrial-grade UAVs output stood at 125.9 billion yuan, while consumer-grade UAVs output hit 50.2 billion yuan.

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) calls for the healthy and orderly development of the low-altitude economy, improved precision in low-altitude airspace management, and proactive efforts to expand low-altitude consumption. ■