(Photo/Xinhua)

"The drone industry is a huge market, and I'm very optimistic about its development," said Chinese drone pilot Li Lei.

Before becoming involved in the drone industry, Li was a mobile phone salesman. However, when he fell in love with drones in 2016, he decided to switch industries.

The performance of his company has been on the rise every year, he said.

As an emerging high-tech industry, drones were preliminarily used by the military. As technology advances, these devices are gradually reaching the civil market, with mature application in consumption, agriculture, power, security and surveying industries.

According to a report on the development of drone pilots released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the administration had issued a total of 44,573 licenses for civil drone pilots by the end of last year. With those getting licenses from related industry societies and enterprises, as well as non-licensed players, China is home to hundreds of thousands of civil drone pilots.

Most industry practitioners are aged between 20 and 40, and the profession of "drone pilot" has become a choice for many who have just started job hunting.

Sixty-eight percent of drone pilots earn the same or more than the local average income, and 13 percent of them enjoy a salary twice as much as the regional average.

According to statistics from Chinese-owned provider of market intelligence, International Data Corporation (IDC), a total of 1.96 million drones are expected to be sold in the Chinese market by the end of this year, including 1.5 million consumer drones and 460,000 industrial drones.