The Civil Aviation Administration of China recently announced the first batch of 13 civil unmanned aviation test bases. Yanqing district was shortlisted and became the first civil unmanned aviation test base in Beijing.

Yanqing district can provide exclusive airspace for UAV test flights and meet UAV flight needs, relying on independent airspace that is 1,098 meters high and covers 374 square kilometers. 

"One college, two bases and three centers" have been built to promote the formation of a full life-cycle industrial chain in terms of education and training, scientific and technological R&D, achievement transformation, flight safety and testing services.

With its unique airspace advantages, Yanqing regards drones as one of the key industries to cultivate. 

Yanqing has gathered more than 40 UAV-related companies, including the Ninth Aerospace Academy, Meituan, Qinghang Equipment and Yuandu Technology. These entities mainly cover various types of UAV R&D and production, communication links, sensor equipment, inspection and testing, education, training and flight countermeasures, among other fields.

In September this year, the UAV Innovation Base in Zhongguancun Yanqing Park officially opened. The base has multi-dimensional spaces covering production, research and development and testing, as well as offices. 

The base can provide drone companies with a development and growth platform, product testing platform and an investment, financing and operation management platform. It can also support an unmanned system testing center to provide quality and safety testing, evaluation and certification services for unmanned systems.

Twelve enterprises have entered the base, forming an initial industrial agglomeration. The drones developed by these companies cover agricultural conservation, emergency communications, logistics and distribution, surveying and mapping for disaster relief and other fields.

In terms of policy support, Yanqing Park has also implemented several policies, including the "Administrative Measures of Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone on Supporting Funds for the Promotion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development in Yanqing Park" and "Measures to Promote the Development of the UAV Industry."

The company currently responsible for the base's operation is Yigu Century UAV Service (Beijing) Co. The innovation base of nearly 20,000 square meters is divided into areas of different sizes according to the settled enterprises' actual needs.

Entering the innovation base, visitors can see that different companies' work areas are separated from each other, and many workers are busy installing and debugging drone equipment.

"The current base is only a temporary transition zone. We are building a drone science and technology innovation park in Zhongguancun Yanqing Park, which integrates drone research and development, assembly and test flight. It is expected to be completed and put into use in about three years," said Li Hongyao, general manager of Human Machine Service Co.

"We also plan to build an unmanned system inspection center. The first phase of the project was completed in August this year. This year, China announced the relevant inspection standards for drones, and we've completed more than half of the inspection projects," Li added.

Since June this year, Yanqing has actively applied for a civil unmanned aviation test base and passed pre-audit, defense inspection and field inspections.

Making full use of the drone companies' superior resources that enter the park, Zhongguancun Yanqing Park has established a Winter Olympics Drone Service Team.

The team can play a significant role in emergency weather prediction, forest-fire prevention, aerial inspections, emergency rescue, material distribution and other fields.

"In the future, we will strictly follow the Civil Aviation Administration's test base assessment and evaluation system as well as the corresponding suspension and withdrawal mechanism, to explore new models of drone applications," said Yang Lina, deputy director of the service center of Zhongguancun Yanqing Park.

Yanqing Park will strive to create a first-class comprehensive test base for UAVs in China featuring emergency and rescue services, Yang added.