China is accelerating efforts to shape global technical benchmarks for the low-altitude economy, with state regulators securing international approval for pioneering standards governing drone obstacle avoidance and digital identification security.
The State Administration for Market Regulation announced that China jointly led the creation of an international standard titled "UAV Sense and Avoidance System" under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Concurrently, an international proposal spearheaded by China—focusing on security module testing for unmanned aircraft system (UAS) licenses—was officially established under ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), representing the first international standard proposal in drone identity verification.
Targeting complex urban operations characterized by high-rise buildings, dense pedestrian traffic, and heavy electromagnetic interference, the sense-and-avoid framework establishes technical parameters for obstacle detection distances, safe separation margins, and emergency collision protocols during landing. Regulators highlighted that the framework fills a critical gap in international regulations while lowering compliance costs for cross-border drone deployments.
The second standard sets a unified testing baseline for hardware security modules and electronic pilot licenses, laying the technical foundation to ensure commercial unmanned aircraft are verifiable, traceable, and compliant with civil aviation oversight.
The technical push reflects Beijing’s strategic emphasis on the low-altitude economy, a sector encompassing commercial logistics, urban air mobility, agricultural automation, and passenger-carrying electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Supported by domestic manufacturing dominance in civilian drones and rapid regulatory approval for commercial flight routes, Chinese logistics and tech majors, including SF Express and Meituan, have already deployed large-scale autonomous drone delivery networks across major metropolitan hubs.
Chinese market supervision authorities noted in local media reports that they will continue translating mature domestic operational practices and technical solutions into international standards, helping domestic drone manufacturers and software providers integrate into global airspace management systems.
