It also shared details of three cases involving drones, including one where a military technology enthusiast used a drone with a remote high-definition camera function to “illegally photograph” a new type of warship to brag on military forums in November 2021.

The man, identified only by the surname Luo, was sentenced to a year in prison and a further year’s probation for “illegally obtaining state secrets”, after he was found to possess secret-level and confidential-level military information.

China’s Law on Guarding State Secrets has a three-tier system for classified information: confidential, secret and top secret.

The top secret level covers “the most important state secrets, the leakage of which would cause extraordinarily serious damage to national security”, while leaking secret-level information would cause “serious damage”.

01:30

China’s biggest drone maker DJI blacklisted by US defence department

China’s biggest drone maker DJI blacklisted by US defence department

The ministry also said a worker for an aerial survey agency had been using a drone for work purposes without permission and had collected photographs and data from a confidential area, “causing key technical security risks”.

The post said the worker, named Liu, was detained by the national security authorities to remove the risk of secrets being leaked “in a timely manner”. It did not provide any information about criminal proceedings against Liu.

The ministry also said two company employees had used WeChat and the cloud to share data collected by drones from a restricted military area without getting permission from the local air traffic control centre.

The pair, named Li and Zhang, were charged with illegally obtaining state secrets, and faced “criminal punishment in accordance with the law”. No further details were given.

A similar case was reported by Chinese media last year, after a surveying and mapping company in Hebei province and one of its employees were each ordered to pay 120,000 yuan (US$16,500) in compensation to the national defence authorities and make a public apology.

The court said the employee named Lin had been using a self-assembled drone to take photographs and carry out a survey without authorisation. The flight was detected by an air force radar and the military wasted more than 120,000 yuan identifying the drone.

05:29

China executes scientist for spying in 2016, among 10 ‘shocking’ cases revealed in documentary

China executes scientist for spying in 2016, among 10 ‘shocking’ cases revealed in documentary

They will also need permission to use them in restricted air space, which includes the area around airports, national borders, restricted areas and facilities that are given special protection. The latter includes radio astronomy stations, satellite control stations and important revolutionary memorial sites.

Civilian drones may only engage in surveying and mapping activities after obtaining a certificate. Foreign-owned or operated drones are not allowed to carry out surveying and mapping, radio wave testing and similar activities within China.

There were nearly 1.27 million registered UAVs across the country by the end of last year, a 32 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Some 19,000 companies were operating drones while 194,000 people held drone pilot certificates.