China's booming IT industry helps drones fly high

A drone for agricultural use on display in Anhui province. [Photo/China Daily]

The advent of such products is gradually lowering some industries' cost of operations. For example, where high-cost helicopter services were the norm, low-cost drone services are used now. That is why, aerial scenes are now commonplace in TV programs and movies, said Wang.

Drones could help farmers to continue in agriculture rather than leaving rural areas in search of jobs in urban areas, he said.

Against this background, a host of businesses have expressed their willingness to use drones in operations like firefighting, search-and-rescue, material delivery, mapping and meteorology, Wang said. "But our supply can't meet all of that demand."

While the use of drones in inspection of power lines and in agriculture will likely continue, the products are still in the testing stage in other industries, said Yu Zexuan, deputy general manager of Hubei province-based Ewatt Co Ltd, one of the main industrial drone makers in China.

Yu is confident Chinese companies will sooner or later lead the segment of industrial drones as well because technology continues to be improved and more industries will likely use drones.