Drone manufacturer appeals ruling listing it as a ‘Chinese military company’

The Chinese drone company DJI is appealing a court ruling that upholds a U.S. Department of Defense decision to list it as a “Chinese military company.” 

As the ruling stands, DJI, which is one of the leading camera, civilian and agricultural drone companies, continues to bear the Chinese military company label which, the court wrote, “stigmatizes” the company and excludes it from certain contracts, grants and programs. 

According to the opinion from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense first listed DJI as a “Chinese military company” in 2022, then relisted it with the same designation in 2024. DJI pushed back on the designation and the department’s lack of notice or opportunity for DJI to be heard in the matter. 

As drones are becoming useful tools in all sorts of industries, including agriculture, some operators worry the drone industry would suffer — at least temporarily — without the prevailing Chinese technology on the market.

DJI filed a suit in October 2024 with the district court, the DoD responded that it was reevaluating the designation and in January 2025, it again reestablished that DJI was a Chinese military company. 

The department explained its designation by saying DJI was state-owned entity, had “received an unknown amount of funds” from several People’s Republic of China owned entities and “knowingly” received assistance from either the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party in the form of “science and technology efforts initiated under the Chinese military industrial planning apparatus.” 

The already-filed case was expedited because of the January designation, and DJI argued to the court that the department committed procedural errors in its designation and failed to evaluate contradictory evidence. 

The opinion, written by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman for the District of Columbia, sided with the Department of Defense and upheld its designation, but also noted that the department “failed to proffer substantial evidence to support its finding that DJI meets the definition of ‘Chinese military company.’”

DJI officials, in a news release announcing the company had filed an appeal, said the arguments the court upheld were “limited findings that reaffirm DJI’s lack of military affiliation.” 

“We respect the Court’s process but are disappointed that the designation remains in place despite findings that reject the core of the DoD’s allegations,” a spokesperson for DJI said in the release. “We will continue to defend the integrity of our company as the findings reaffirm what we have maintained all along — that DJI operates independently, has no government or military affiliation, and is committed to the responsible development of drone technology.”

DJI maintains that it has never manufactured military drones or marketed equipment for combat.