Visitors tour the DJI exhibition booth during the World Drone Congress (DWC) in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, on May 21, 2026. Photo: VCG

The Global Times learned from Chinese drone maker DJI on Monday that a major substantive development occurred in DJI's lawsuit against the US Department of Defense (DoD), as a US federal appeals court has ordered a lower court to reconsider the legality of the Pentagon's decision to place DJI on a blacklist of companies allegedly linked to China's military. 

This ruling marks an important procedural victory in DJI's years-long legal battle in the US, according to DJI. 

Reports show that DJI was first placed on the DoD's blacklist in October 2022. DJI has repeatedly issued statements publicly opposing the designation. After exhausting administrative remedies without success, DJI formally filed suit in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in October 2024. In 2025, a lower court in the US issued a ruling in favor of the DoD, prompting DJI to appeal.

On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the lower court erred by relying only on the unclassified record in concluding that the company contributes to the Chinese defense industrial base, Reuters reported.

"There is...no publicly stated rationale for why the Secretary believes DJI contributes to the Chinese defense industrial base," the appeals court said, sending the case back to the lower court for further proceedings, per the report.

Since being wrongly placed on the blacklist in 2022, DJI has continuously pursued legal remedies, repeatedly pointing out that the DoD added the company to the list without sufficient evidence or due process, causing significant reputational and commercial harm.

In response to the latest ruling, DJI told the Global Times in a statement: "We welcome this positive ruling by the US appeals court, which represents an important step toward the ultimate correction of [the DoD's] wrongful designation. The decision further affirms DJI's long-standing and firm opposition to the use of its products and technologies for any military or wartime purposes. Moving forward, we will continue to vigorously defend the legitimate rights and interests of the company and our global users through all available legal avenues."

In recent years, despite facing multiple rounds of unjust policy suppression and bans in the US, DJI's products and technology have remained highly irreplaceable across a wide range of US civilian sectors - including consumer markets, local law enforcement, fire and emergency response, and agriculture. According to media reports, DJI commands a 70-90 percent market share in the US commercial drone market, while over 80 percent of state and local law enforcement and emergency response agencies across the US use DJI technology. Four out of every five agricultural drones in the US are DJI products.

US frontline public safety departments are deeply dependent on DJI equipment. Fire departments and police agencies in multiple jurisdictions have stated that DJI drones offer absolute advantages in price, performance, and reliability, making them indispensable tools for safeguarding local public safety and emergency rescue. In a May interview with The Wall Street Journal, a police department noted that DJI drones are the only affordable detection tools within its budget, while US-made alternatives with comparable functions typically cost three-five times more and fall short on performance.