The Chinese government has announced a ban on the exportation of all high-performance drones and supercomputers due to the national security concerns.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs, the ban targets the exportation of military drones. It will come into effect on Aug 15.

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Commercial drones will not be affected by the ban. Over 160,000 units of civilian drones worth about 750 million yuan ($120 million) were exported from China in the first five months of this year.

Officials cautioned manufacturers on Friday to seek government certification before exporting drones that can fly in gusty winds, reaching heights of 15,420 for one hour or longer. Officials did not specify the size and wingspans of the restricted military drones.

Under the new regulation, manufacturers are required to report a drone's technical specification, the name of its end user and what it will be used for, before the device can be exported.

Authorities did not detail the specific national security threats that inspired the new regulation. The restriction on exportation of high-powered drones is meant to protect key Chinese technological innovations. Also, it ensures that these products, which could be used for espionage, are not bought by the wrong people.

The ban comes off the heels of an international incident in which Pakistani officials shot down a Chinese spy drone allegedly owned by the Indian military.

Chinese manufactures control a lion share of the global drone market for both civilian and military devices. Chinese manufactured drones have increasingly been exported to foreign countries.

DJI Technology, a Chinese company worth over $10 billion, controls 70 per cent of the global civilian market for drones.

Military drones produced by Chengdu Airplane Design Research Institute have been exported to several countries like Myanmar and Pakistan. Examples of these military drones include the CH-3 and CH-4, which the People Liberation Army (PLA) claims is superior to the U.S. MQ- Predator.

"The ban is targeting drones not designed for commercial use, and will protect key technologies of Chinese companies," said Shao Jianhuo, DJI vice-president.

"It was a surprise decision for the industry, but it really makes sense in terms of national security and the healthy growth of the industry."

DJI announced after a review of the new regulation that none of its drones will be affected by the ban.

However, Zhang Jie, CEO of Shenzhen-based G-UAV Intelligent Technologies, said the company is prepared for the new regulations as other countries have already instituted stricter laws.

"We have seen many countries introduce their own rules to ban drones for commercial or civilian use, and some have been much stricter than China, for example US and Switzerland," he said.

"We have prepared well for this, because most domestic drone makers are export-oriented."

Under the new regulation, high-performance supercomputers that can perform 8 teraflops per second are restricted from export.

China's rise to become one of the largest manufacturers of supercomputers in the world has roused many countries like the U.S.

U.S. authorities recently issued a ban against the use of China-made supercomputer processors for information security reasons.

While the U.S. and Japan are investing heavily in supercomputers, China's Tianhe series currently holds the record of the world's fastest supercomputer.

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