Chinese-made agricultural drones are revolutionizing traditional farming methods across the United Kingdom, bringing efficiency and sustainability to the countryside from the sky.
From cleaning polytunnels to monitoring crop health and planting seeds, these unmanned aerial vehicles are helping farmers boost productivity while cutting costs, with industry analysts forecasting that thousands of British farms will adopt the technology over the coming years.
While most farming activities are all about what happens on the ground, these agri-drones are helping make a real difference from the skies above.
Drones produced by the Chinese firm XAG, a world-leading smart agriculture technology company, have been seen working on a small farm near Liverpool.
Businessman Robert Pearson explained how these drones are being used by farmers to clean polytunnel greenhouses from above, ensuring enough sunlight gets through the polythene cover to deliver more promising yields.
"If you could clean your polythene each year, you're going be able to maintain that bumper crop every year so this is a huge benefit to both the farmer but also the environment, because there is less polythene used," said Pearson, CEO of Autospray Systems Ltd, a firm specializing in agri-drone solutions.
The wide potential uses of these drones could come to completely overhaul modern farming methods, helping monitor crops and, in some cases, plant seeds. Some believe they could even help to grow forests, dropping hundreds of seeds in just a few minutes.
The advent of these drones is expected to greatly cut costs and improve productivity, adding two billion U.S. dollars to the British economy by the end of the decade, data from business consulting firm PwC showed.
Chinese-made agricultural drones boost British farming from above
Chinese-made agricultural drones boost British farming from above
Chinese-made agricultural drones boost British farming from above
Computing power services are gaining momentum as artificial intelligence (AI) technology evolves, opening new avenues for the development of trade in services and becoming a highlight of the ongoing 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing.
The five-day CIFTIS opened on Wednesday, drawing participants from 90 countries, regions and international organizations, with over 1,800 companies showcasing their service products on-site.
Exhibitors at the 2026 Thematic Exhibition: Telecommunications, Computers and Information Services are shifting their focus from traditional communication offerings to integrated services combining computing power and AI.
"Currently, we operate over 2 million base stations, and each base station has a supporting communication machine room. We have integrated computing facilities into these machine rooms, upgrading them into data centers that can provide localized, distributed computing services. This enables real-time computing support for applications such as AI-powered forest fire prevention, disaster mitigation, and water quality monitoring in local areas," said Qiao Zhi, a staff member of China Tower Beijing Branch.
Beyond these application services, China's industry chain leaders are showcasing a broad array of innovative solutions at the upstream segment, including chip design, testing, verification, and technical licensing. Chinese service providers are offering tailored solutions for a diverse range of regions and markets.
"For example, European and American clients tend to prefer large-model, high-performance chips, while clients from the Middle East and Southeast Asia focus more on edge-side AI chips, mainly to assist their smart city projects and robotics initiatives. Chinese enterprises can meet the customized demands of different regions, different customers and different scenarios," said Wang Wenqian, head of research and development of the Joinsilicon, which provides customized products and solutions for the semiconductor industry.
Services that can be digitally delivered, including those related to computing power, are becoming an important engine driving the growth of services trade. According to China's Trade in Services Development Index Report 2026 released at the CIFTIS, the share of digitally deliverable services in global services exports rose to 57.9 percent in 2025.
Computing power services emerge as new growth driver for trade in services
