Drone certification? New trend in China

A worker uses a drone produced by drone maker DJI to spray pesticide on fields in Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

Drone is increasingly a popular item here in China and with it, more and more people are considering becoming certified.

Becoming a certified drone pilot is not easy. In some cases it can cost a maximum of 27,000 yuan ($3,920) and requires two demanding tests involving knowledge of mathematics, physics and geography.

By the end of June, 5,000 people in China held a drone certificate show statistics from Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and more than 100 companies in China were qualified to offer training.

EWATT Technology, China's first company to provide drone training, said they now offer training to people who want to become pilots and pilots-in–command, with the latter being able to deals with emergencies.

The training fees for a pilot range from 12,000 yuan to 24,000 yuan, and it ranges from 24,000 yuan to 27,000 yuan for a pilot-in–command.

The fees they charge is based on the type of drone a person wants to operate.

In order to get certified, a person must pass a theory and an operational test.

Many in China are attracted to certification and allured by jobs in agriculture and forestry, marketing and photography within the fast-growing drone industry.

Your Brothers Mountain & Water Rescue Team, a Chinese volunteer search and rescue group has started to use different types of drones in their operation.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com attempts to make drone delivered packages a reality by 2017, Bloomberg reported.

Not everyone needs a certificate to fly a drone, if a drone weighs less than 7kg, if it is flown indoors or in sparsely populated areas, then a certificate is not required, says AOPA.

Drones are still risky, and can be dangerous if flown with inexperience, in a bad weather, or illegally.

In 2015, a staff member from Beijing UAV Sci-Tech Co, was sentenced to 18 months in jail after a drone from the company disrupted commercial flights.

The incident led to an economic cost of about 100,000 yuan for Beijing Capital International Airport.