Standard · Chinese market
GB 42590 — China’s Remote ID Standard
The national standard behind the broadcasts of Chinese-market drones — the aircraft most Western receivers cannot hear.
Who must comply
China’s national standards for unmanned aircraft system safety (GB 42590, alongside GB 46750 taking effect from 2026) make Remote ID broadcasting mandatory for drones sold in the Chinese market. The world’s largest drone manufacturer sells into that market — which means enormous numbers of aircraft transmit in a format that most Western receivers simply do not decode.
How the broadcast works
GB broadcasts ride the same Bluetooth and Wi-Fi carriers as Western Remote ID, but the message layout and identity fields differ. A receiver without GB support hears only noise where a Chinese-market drone is announcing itself. For sites whose airspace includes grey-import units, multi-standard decoding is the specification that decides whether the system works at all.
What it means for a receiver buyer
Ridfinder treats GB as a first-class standard in every comparison: if a candidate decodes it, the table says so with the check date; if not, that gap is stated too. Chinese-market aircraft are not an edge case — they are a large share of the global fleet.
Timeline
- 2024–2026 — GB Remote ID requirements phase in for the Chinese market
- 2026-05 — GB 46750-era obligations begin for new aircraft
- Ongoing — receivers without GB decode miss a growing share of the fleet
Summaries reflect vendor documentation and public regulator material reviewed September 2026. Regulatory text governs — verify against the authority before relying on any date.