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Full text: China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective

White Paper
The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a white paper titled "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective" on Friday.

XinhuaUpdated:  January 28, 2022

V. Modernizing Space Governance

The Chinese government has been proactive in developing the space industry, through policy measures and well-thought-out plans for space activities. Better alignment between a well-functioning market and an enabling government gives full play to the roles of both, endeavoring to create a favorable environment for the growth of a high-quality space industry.

1. Enhancing Innovation

In order to create a new configuration in which the upper, middle and lower industrial chains are coordinated, and large, small and medium-sized enterprises advance in an integrated way, China is building a strategic force of space science and technology, encouraging original innovation by research institutes and bringing together enterprises, universities, research institutes and end-users in creating and applying new technologies. A technological innovation alliance is emerging in key areas of space science.

A number of major space and science projects are in place to promote the leapfrog development of space science and technology, which spearheads overall technical advances.

China is making forward-looking plans for strategic, fundamental and technological breakthroughs in space science - it is integrating the application of new-generation information technology in the space sector, and accelerating the engineering application of advanced and especially revolutionary technologies.

The secondary development of space technologies will be further reinforced to put research findings into industrial production and boost the economy.

2. Strengthening Basic Industrial Capabilities

The space industry will continue to improve its integrated and open industrial system comprising system integrators, specialized contractors, market suppliers, and public service providers, and covering all links from research to production.

To strengthen the industrial and supply chains of its space industry and transform and upgrade the basic capabilities of the industry, China will optimize the industrial structure and upgrade R&D, manufacturing, launch operations, and application services, further integrate industrialization with information technology, and build intelligent production lines, workshops and institutes.

3. Expanding Application

China will improve the policies for its satellite application industry, including coordinating public interest and market demand, integrating facilities and resources, unifying data and product standards, and streamline the channel for sharing and utilization. It is committed to improving satellite application services with unified standards and customized choices.

China will move faster to grow its satellite application market, where various market entities are encouraged to develop value-added products. By creating new application models, China is fostering a "space plus" industrial ecosystem and promoting emerging strategic industries related to space.

4. Encouraging Commercialization

China has formulated guidelines on commercializing its space industry. It will expand the scope of government procurement of space products and services, grant relevant enterprises access and sharing rights to major scientific research facilities and equipment, and support these enterprises in joining the R&D of major engineering projects. It will establish a negative list for market access to space activities, to ensure fair competition and the orderly entry and exit of participating enterprises.

China will optimize the distribution of the space industry in the national industrial chain, and encourage and guide participating enterprises to engage in satellite application and the transfer and transformation of space technologies.

5. Promoting Law-Based Governance

To promote law-based governance of the space industry, China will speed up the formulation of a national space law and establish a legal system with this law at the core. This will include studying and formulating regulations on satellite navigation, strengthening the management of satellite navigation activities, revising measures for the registration of space objects, and regulating the sharing and use of space data and the licensing of civil space launches. It will also include studying and formulating regulations on the management of satellite frequency and orbit resources, and strengthening the declaration, coordination and registration of these resources to safeguard the country's legitimate rights and interests in this regard. China has strengthened research on international space law, and actively participated in formulating International Telecommunication Union standards and international rules regarding outer space, maintaining the international order in outer space based on international space law, and contributing to a fair and reasonable global governance system for outer space.

6. Strengthening Team-Building

China will step up its efforts to become a world center for talent and innovation in space science, and create favorable conditions for the development of professionals and the expansion of their ranks. It will improve the personnel training mechanism - fostering a pool of strategic scientists, leading and young scientists, and teams with strong innovation capacity, and cultivating a large number of outstanding engineers, top technicians championing fine craftsmanship, and visionary entrepreneurs with a sense of social responsibility. China will improve its personnel management mechanisms to regulate and guide the rational flow of professionals. It will also upgrade incentives with greater rewards and stronger support, and strengthen specialty disciplines in universities to cultivate a reserve force of aerospace personnel.

7. Promoting Space Education and Culture

China will continue to hold events to celebrate its Space Day, promote education on space knowledge and culture during World Space Week and National Science and Technology Week, and through Tiangong Classroom and other platforms, and promote the culture and spirit embodied in the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, missiles, man-made satellites, manned spaceflight, lunar probes and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System in the new era. The goal is to inspire the nation, especially the young people, to develop an interest in science, to create and explore the unknown, and to increase scientific knowledge among the general public.

China will protect its major space heritage and build more space museums and experience parks to popularize space science and provide education. It will encourage the creation of space-related literary and art works to promote space culture.

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