Drones for non-military purposes have been more widely used in recent years, for example, for scientific research, ground mapping, and fire control so that, according to Zhang Ruixin, a co-founder of Skyview, a drone business set up in 2008 in the city of Guiyang, Guizhou province,"The overall drone market is expected to reach $2 billion dollars this year."

Skyview is a drone business set up in 2008 in the city of Guiyang, Guizhou province.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhang adds,"China outperforms most countries in the civilian drone field and the market is expanding," and explains that Skyview saw an astonishing 180-percent growth last year over 2013 and says it expects to double sales in 2015, since revenue already reached 1.5 million yuan ($240,000) in the first quarter.

He says that although his company's market share is comparatively small, they are planning products for special areas, such as fire control, filming and armed police. And they have China's first 4S drone store which combines training, customer experiences, sales and service in Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou province.

Skyview's star drone product, the "Mobile Heaven Eyes", for example, has a battery that lasts for an hour, or 20-minutes longer than most other drones and it can be used in various other areas such as agriculture, or even in shooting a film, as it did for a company with 15 employees in mountainous Guizhou province, to capture shots of the starring actress.

Liu Cheng, the director of the Peking University Guanghua School of Management's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, explains, "China is one of the countries standing at the top of drone technology and has big potential for breakthroughs."

Yang Shaowen, head of the Guihang Group's Airplane Design and Research Institute, says that the United States, UK and China are in the lead in the drone business and that the technology in Guizhou outperforms other provinces.

Zhang notes that,"The local government has provided much support for enterprises like ours and has provided free office space and capital," then adds that he and his team still face problems raising capital and a talent shortage but that he believes the company's products can attract capital and talent to support R&D and he's optimistic about their future.

Experts note that preferential policies to support the business are an essential element for market development.