MOFCOM Announcement No. 49

MOFCOM Announcement No. 49 of 2026 puts a wide set of drone parts under Chinese export licensing from 18 November 2026. China's Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the Central Military Commission's Equipment Development Department published it on 19 October. It names no destination, so a buyer in Europe or India needs a licensed Chinese supplier just as a US buyer does.

The list covers drone autopilots, brushless motors rated at 48 volts and 3 kilowatts or more with their speed controllers, long carbon-fibre propellers, radios that let one ground station control more than ten aircraft, drones with a range of 300km or more, drone turbojets of 400 newtons and above, and counter-drone technology. The announcement cites the Export Control Law and the dual-use export regulations, and updates China's dual-use control list on the same day. Exporters with internal compliance systems can apply for general licences. It extends an August 2026 measure that applied case-by-case licensing to US-bound drone components only.

Every licence names a buyer and an end user, so Beijing now sees who orders heavy-lift motors and long-range airframes worldwide. Zhang Yi, who founded the research firm iiMedia, told Tech Times the rule could push smaller Chinese exporters without compliance staff out of overseas high-performance markets.