Highway patrol and maintenance authorities use a drone to survey an accident site during a drill on February 4 in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. Photo: CFP

Guess who stole the thunder when Chinese pop singer Wang Feng proposed to his movie star girlfriend?

A drone. And it was only supposed to serve as a tool to carry the diamond ring for the couple.

The headlines saying that "actress Zhang Ziyi says yes to drone" were so comical that they contributed to the Chinese public's ever-growing interest in drones.

According to data generated by Baidu Index, searches containing the word "drone" or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) increased by more than 230 percent in the past 30 days year-on-year, particularly peaking in the first few days following the proposal on February 7.

"UAVs have now stepped into people's daily life and after solving technical problems related to stability and improving certain regulations, UAVs might become more popular than automobiles in the near future," Dai Chuan, a deputy chief designer at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, told the Global Times.

Sky-high popularity

DJI-Innovations, the producer of the drone that appeared at the proposal ceremony involving Zhang Ziyi, claims to be the "market leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial photography systems" and has opened an online shop offering five types of UAV and a range of accessories to customers.

A sales assistant for the Shenzhen-based company told the Global Times that their business was especially good in the weeks following the proposal. According to its public transaction records, 82 "Phantom 2 Vision" drones, the type used in the proposal, were sold from February 1 to 7. In the rest of the month, 383 more were sold. Each UAV costs 6,499 yuan ($1,035).

People can buy small UAVs by various means in China and some popular e-commerce platforms offer UAVs at prices ranging from 100 yuan to more than 10,000 yuan, a UAV researcher who requested anonymity told the Global Times.

"Some small UAVs sold on e-commerce platforms are actually model airplanes and they are different from UAVs designed for civil use," Ang Haisong, a professor from the Nanjing University of Aeronautic and Astronautics, told the Global Times.

As opposed to model airplanes, which are usually bought solely for entertainment, UAVs can be used for filmmaking, search and rescue missions and surveillance, according to Ang.

UAVs designed for civil use still belong to a frontier market but they have enjoyed some technological advancements in recent years, the UAV researcher said, adding that UAVs have increasingly become part of peoples' lives.

Aside from being used to film astounding videos, drones can also be used to transport goods as they are cheaper, faster and safer than traditional delivery methods, according to Ang.

E-commerce and shipping companies have been trying to use UAVs to deliver goods for several years. Amazon and German delivery firm DHL have reportedly experimented with using UAVs to deliver smaller orders.

Between February 4 and 6, Taobao collaborated with Shanghai Yuantong Express (Logistics) Co. Ltd, one of China's largest private delivery firms, to use UAVs to deliver brown sugar to customers in certain districts of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Taobao announced that 450 customers in the three cities would have a chance to have their goods delivered by UAVs and that their sugar would be delivered within an hour of them placing their order.

However, Taobao said it organized these deliveries just to give their customers a novel experience and that it has no intention to further expand this scheme at present.

The dangers of drones

Taobao's delivery gimmick drew public attention not only to itself but also to the many different ways UAVs can be used. It also sparked discussion over safety issues.

Dai said that the number of manufacturers qualified to produce UAVs grew quickly from less than 100 in 2012 to more than 300 in 2014 and all of them are able to produce drones and the ground stations used to establish the data link needed to command UAVs.

 "The lack of qualification examinations related to the manufacturers of UAVs has made it easy for unqualified companies to conduct research and development into UAVs. It is hard to guarantee the safety of these products, and once there is a collision or crash, or if some UAV goes out of control in a city, it could be a lesson paid for with blood," Dai said.

 "There are no specific national regulations on the civil use of UAVs in China at present. The existing laws and regulations set by the Ministry of the Public Security or the Ministry of State Security are all about the range of applications of UAVs, and there is nothing specific concerning the types of drones permitted, or their flight height," Liu Bing, a manager for the Shenzhen Grepow Battery firm told the Global Times.

Grepow Battery is the main supplier of UAV batteries in China.

Liu added that some restricted areas and confidential facilities in China have few precautionary measures to deal with UAVs taking aerial photos.

"The government should establish airworthiness standards for UAVs in the near future and only in this way can UAVs be allowed to fly in the cities," Dai said.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that it would authorize the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associate of China (AOPA-China) to handle the qualification of pilots who can fly drones within the range of visibility or beyond the range of visibility in designated drone-flying airspace in April 2014.

According to the website of AOPA-China, there are 18 training institutes for UAV pilots across China, including in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu, and 244 people were certified as drone pilots as of December 31.

"It is necessary for the authorities to implement regulations regarding low-altitude flight, and to standardize of the manufacture of UAVs," said Ang.

The future of unmanned flight

Some of the top technology and research firms around the world, such as Google and Intel, are involved in the development of UAVs, and this has led to the development of larger civil UAVs with improved performance, the UAV researcher said.

He went on to say that in the future, drones will be guided by artificial intelligence.

 "After enhancing the stability and the capacity of autonomous flights, future UAVs may take passengers and unmanned airbuses may become available in the next 10 years," the researcher added.