stay tuned for more updates on nhk world. shenzhen, the city has been drastically developed since it was designated as a special

economic zone under china's open door policy. it's now dubbed china's sillicon valley. recently it has come to be known as drone city as over 70% of the civilian use drones are used by company s companiies here. it's estimated to reach over 2700 billion dollars in 2020. shenzh shenzhenbased company triggered the drone boom. since commencing sales of highly functional drones for aerial

filming in 2014, it became the drone's top supplier. drone's were initially developed for military use. a component called the flight controller stable isiss the aerial vehicles by processing information related to speed and fight angles. the in addition to being remotely controlled, drones can also operate with remote assistance. chinese corporations lead the world's drone industry and continue engaging in intensive r and, d, searching for new uses and contemplating the future use for drones.

drones are being manufacturered at a stunning pace. meanwhile, the lifestyle is also establishing itself . >> droneress creating the industrial revolution of the air. what will the future hold for drones? this follows the latest trends on the front lines of the drone boom.

huaqiangbei is the world's largest electronics parts market. from high tend to imitation, even extremely rare ones. young engineers from around the world come here in hopes of making it big. new inventions constantly pop up but most of them disappearing just as quickly. it's what nurture s shenzhen's technical prowess. for residents here, every school has drone clubs and drone races are common events. with interest and the right

knowledge anyone can make a full-scale drone for roughly $100. it's not unusual to see elementary school kids playing with home made drones.

>> in china the cost of industrial drone production is four times higher than the cost of personal drones. this was founded to make infrastructure and laws for drones.

the drone manufacturer aee engages in both production and sales. their products are used as official equipment of the chinese military and police force. on this day product

demonstrations will be held for government officials. a police drone was unveiled for the occasion.

>> this drone can be equipped with up to 10 kilograms of special devices that can fly up to an hour. high magnification optical zoom can be easily detached and remove frumd the bottom of the drone. life saving equipment is available. different devices are equipped depending on the purpose of each missions. these reported devices have

already contributed to solving many police cases. >> this footage was taken by an actual police drone. it's been used to understand the overall situations on site by viewing information on the ground before help arrives, the

drones can help devise rescue missions and strategies. this leaves to early resolution of incidents.

>> the ability to fly freely is what has brought them to doll the industrial revolution of the air. drones can fly over crowded land that had has been developed corner to corner safely utilizing the space 100 meters from the ground. the use of drones is being considered by various industries such as forestry and entertainment. the ability to move up and down steadily and stop in midair, makes drones suitable for infrastructure and establishment. they may even be used for sky scrapers in the future. this has only just begun. with the increased use of drones in many sectors, china has begun

establishing relevant licenses and laws. amidsts this trend, 19 schools have popped up in shenzhen over the past years. many are funded by drone companies. >> this drone pilot school is run by a drone development firm. those seekinged a mission are various ages and academic backgrounds. but they all seem to share a positive out look on drones.

>> china began a drone operator licensing system in 2014. they're required for flying drones over 27 kilograms or any weight when flying over 120 meters or distances exceeding 500 meters. each school is different but at this school students study theory and practes for six weeks. tuition is roughly 2 thousand

yoou u.s. dollars. it's an expensive perches for the average chinese person and ultimately whether students pass the licensing test depends on their abilities. one afternoon a practice class was conducted. this was the first hansds on lesson for these students. students play an ordinary part in the city. they're open to drones.

>> the school developed these original models for practice. the teachers fly drones until they have reached a steady assent. the students take over from there.

>> the dloens begin wobbling in the wind as soon as students take control. thanks to the automatic functions, they won't -- the purpose of this training is to eventually shift from automatic to manual. generally a minimum of 40 hours of flying practice is necessary to obtain a drone license.

>> these aerial vehicles flying abav park are prototypes that have yet to be publicly released. parks in shenzhen have become

trial grounds for small manufacturers. some fly erratically. these compact drones for research differ from industrial drones. the drones are used by universities and research labs around the world for autopiloting with sensors and formation flying.

some see the potential of drones. the body of the drone was made by hardware manufacturer which has been partnering with products around the world. seed creates open source hardware. not only does it publicly release the designs of its products. it discloses the list of parts so other companies can use the same parts to make other products. >> compact drones are one results of this system. >> honestly toys and entertainment.

they can do some pretty fun turns. in terms of development they're a safe platform and now algorithms on. so we're going to treat smaller drones in the future is for 3d mapping small systems. if you can clear out a sewer and fly in the sewer very quickly, in the future they'll be able to make 3d maps of the sewers and of any system we need. currently engineers are holding frequent conference calls. bit craze was founded by three inhad junears who wanted to create smaller drones. >> and why did you choose

company to manufacture the product? >> yeah, so from the beginning we wanted it to be open source and a development plan rather than a toy so we needed someone that could help us manufacture. we're not good at that. >> so the seed company is in the city. >> yeah. i mean that's definitely a big advantage. they have access to production. so definitely they can produce things fast. that was technically -- it was

not a deciding factor but it was a big plus compared to manufacturing for something newer. >> through open source hardware, they're bringing new possibilities to drone development. they have enjoyed success with industrial drones. an atempt to pioneer a new field of drones. the init had tirety of the project may be revealed by the end of 2017.

>> autogyro a 200 they began selling in 2016. based on this design and experiments, officials say they're developing a drone people can ride on. the development code name is hornet. the goal is to make a completely automated passenger vehicle.

>> aee is also inhvolved aztecniccal advisor in another project. this is the c.g. based image of the district. it was proposed by a hong kong developer last year and succe successfully accepted. the most significant feature is that there is a drone

transportation network and a dedicated highway for drones. on site inspections are now underway. it's just another day of drones hovering above the air in parks. it's been just four years since drones became commonly known but they're still considered by most people as only the latest trend. but engineers are developing new technology every day and searching for diverse ways to uses it.

society is due for a major spac that's never been utilizedg before. what kind ofuture will this new technology bring to the world? ♪

welcome back to nhk "newsline." it's 11:00 a.m. on thursday in tokyo. i'm miki yamamoto. first the headlines for this hour. abe's tough message. the japanese prime minister calls on world leaders to enforce sanctions against north korea and says dialogue is not the answer. facing hurdles. nations sign on to a treaty virtually banning nuclear weapons, despite the