China’s Commercial Space Race: How 10+ Provinces Are Building Strategic Aerospace Hubs in 2026

2026 is shaping up to be a watershed moment for China’s commercial space industry.

The National Industrial and Information Technology Work Conference has officially declared 2026 the year to establish aerospace as a new pillar industry—and provinces across the country are racing to position themselves at the center of this boom.

In late January, the People’s Daily published an article titled “2026: An Anticipated Grand Year for Commercial Space,” signaling massive momentum ahead.

What’s happening right now? Local governments are getting serious.

As of February 1, over 20 provinces have held their local “Two Sessions” (Lianghui 两会)—their annual political and legislative meetings.

While some government work reports haven’t dropped yet, the disclosed information is clear: roughly half of these provinces are directly or indirectly planning for commercial space industries.

The provinces making the biggest noise? Guangdong (Guangdong 广东), Shandong (Shandong 山东), Zhejiang (Zhejiang 浙江), Henan (Henan 河南), Beijing (Beijing 北京), Liaoning (Liaoning 辽宁), and Tianjin (Tianjin 天津) have all explicitly mentioned aerospace or commercial space in their development plans.

Here’s what’s really interesting: these aren’t random announcements.

All of these regional deployments center on two core strategies: building “full-chain” ecosystems and developing industrial clusters.

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The Numbers That Show Why Everyone’s Excited

The buzz isn’t just hype—there’s serious money behind this.

According to the “China Commercial Space Industry Research Report” released at the end of December 2025, China’s commercial space industry is projected to reach ¥2.5 trillion RMB ($345.5 billion USD) to ¥2.8 trillion RMB ($387 billion USD) by 2025.

Let that sink in.

What’s driving this growth?

• Average annual compound growth rate exceeding 20%
• More than 600 commercial space enterprises now operating in China
• Multiple provinces viewing aerospace as a strategic emerging industry

This isn’t a small market segment anymore—it’s becoming a pillar of China’s economy.

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The “Full-Chain” Strategy: Why Regional Governments Are All-In

• Innovation Hubs (Beijing/Shanghai/GBA): Focus on R&D, standard-setting, and high-end breakthrough technologies.
• Manufacturing Backbone (Yangtze River Delta/Central China): Specialization in component fabrication, mass production, and rigorous testing.
• Service & Export Hubs (Hainan/Gansu/Shandong): Leveraging natural launch window advantages for satellite services and international expansion.

The first major keyword buzzing through provincial development plans is “full-chain.”

What does this actually mean?

Instead of having isolated pockets of innovation, regions are trying to build complete, vertically-integrated aerospace ecosystems that cover everything from R&D to manufacturing to launches to real-world applications.

Guangdong is leading the charge.

The province proposed that in 2026, it will drive breakthroughs in key core technologies across the entire chain, including:

• Quantum technology
• Brain science
• Artificial intelligence
• Integrated circuits
• Commercial space

On the industrial scale side, Guangdong’s “Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of Commercial Space (2024–2028)” sets an ambitious target: ¥300 billion RMB ($41.5 billion USD) in commercial space and related industries by 2026.

That’s real capital allocation.

Beijing is another heavyweight player.

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing Jingji Jishu Kaifaqu 北京经济技术开发区) has become a full-fledged commercial space cluster.

Here’s what they’ve built:

• Over 210 commercial space-related enterprises gathered in one area
• A complete industrial chain spanning the entire ecosystem
• “Rocket Street” is operational (yes, that’s really what it’s called)
• Six major common platforms, including a commercial space telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) center

The impact? In 2025, “Yizhuang Rockets” (Yizhuang Jian 亦庄箭) successfully launched 24 times, accounting for over 90% of the country’s commercial rocket launches.

One region is dominating the launch market.

Why is the “full-chain” approach so powerful?

According to Zhu Kuaile (Zhu Kuaile 朱克力), Founding Director of the National Research New Economy Institute, the aerospace industry is highly interconnected.

A full-chain layout eliminates “bottlenecks” and creates a closed loop of “R&D-manufacturing-launch-application,” which:

• Enhances overall competitiveness
• Reduces dependence on external supply chains
• Accelerates innovation cycles

In other words, when all the pieces are in one place, everything moves faster.

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The Pain Points These Strategies Are Solving

Regional governments didn’t just wake up and decide aerospace was cool.

They’re responding to specific, documented industry challenges.

A report from CCID Consulting (Saidi Zhiku 赛迪智库) titled “Outlook for China’s Commercial Space Industry Development in 2026” identified the real bottlenecks holding the industry back:

• Policy systems need improvement; entry barriers remain high. New companies face regulatory hurdles and unclear pathways to market entry.
• Industrial synergy is insufficient; key technologies have gaps. Companies aren’t working together well, and there are weak points in critical tech areas.
• Funding gaps exist; business models need innovation. Capital availability is spotty, and companies are still figuring out how to make money long-term.
• Application scenarios are limited; international markets need expansion. There aren’t enough use cases yet, and Chinese companies aren’t selling globally enough.

The “full-chain” strategy directly addresses these issues by creating integrated ecosystems where companies can collaborate, access capital, and solve problems together.

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Industrial Clusters: Let Every Region Find Its Niche

The second major keyword dominating provincial plans is “industrial cluster.”

Unlike the “full-chain” approach (which tries to do everything in one place), the cluster strategy is about geographic specialization.

Different regions play different roles based on their natural advantages.

Zhejiang is pushing this hard.

The province proposed supporting emerging clusters, including aerospace and the low-altitude economy.

Their goal? Make strategic emerging industries account for 35% of the added value of industrial enterprises above a designated size.

That’s not a suggestion—that’s a structural economic target.

Shandong is taking a different but equally aggressive approach.

The province is targeting four emerging industries with potential values of ¥100 billion RMB ($13.8 billion USD) each, and aerospace is on the list.

More specifically:

• Shandong is supporting Yantai (Yantai 烟台) in integrating the “Oriental Aerospace Port” (Dongfang Hangtiangang 东方航天港) into the national commercial space layout
• The province is encouraging Jinan, Qingdao, and Taian to promote major projects in rocket and satellite manufacturing

Where’s the Oriental Aerospace Port located?

Haiyang, Shandong—and it’s currently China’s only commercial space sea-launch home port.

The track record is impressive: 137 satellites have been launched from this site.

So how should regions actually think about specialization?

Yang Shaoxian (Yang Shaoxian 杨少鲜), Chief Researcher of Commercial Space at the China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), laid out a smart regional strategy based on comparative advantage:

Beijing/Shanghai/Greater Bay Area:

• Focus on R&D and standard-setting
• Position as innovation hubs

Yangtze River Delta/Central China:

• Focus on manufacturing components and testing
• Build the backbone of production capacity

Hainan/Gansu/Shandong:

• Leverage launch advantages for service and international business
• Position as launch and export hubs

The logic is elegant: let each region do what it’s best positioned to do.

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Which Companies Are Winning Right Now?

Regional governments aren’t just building abstract infrastructure—they’re betting on specific companies.

Henan (Henan 河南) proposed supporting companies like:

• Space Pioneer (Tianbing Keji 天兵科技)
• Tianzhang Satellite (Tianzhang Weixing 天章卫星)

Tianjin (Tianjin 天津) is strengthening its aerospace lead in:

• Large aircraft
• Rockets
• Satellite manufacturing

The province is also expanding cooperation with major players:

• Airbus
• CASC (Hangtian Keji 航天科技)
• AVIC (Zhonghang Gongye 中航工业)

What are these companies actually working on?

GalaxySpace (Yinhe Hangtian 银河航天), with General Manager of Public Affairs Xu Ying (Xu Ying 徐颖), is accelerating R&D on satellite-to-mobile direct connection technology.

This is a game-changer: it would allow satellites to connect directly to smartphones without needing special equipment.

Hongqing Technology (Hongqing Keji 鸿擎科技) is tackling efficiency from a different angle with the “three-integrated” strategy:

• Integrating platforms/payloads
• Integrating satellites/rockets
• Integrating ground/space networks

Their focus? Improve manufacturing efficiency and delivery capabilities.

Companies are directly addressing the industry pain points identified in the CCID report—which is why government support is flowing their way.

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What This Means for Investors and Founders

The convergence of government policy, capital allocation, and corporate innovation is creating a moment.

We’re watching 10+ Chinese provinces simultaneously build aerospace ecosystems with hundreds of billions of yuan in backing.

Some regions will dominate certain segments.

Some companies will capture disproportionate value.

And some niches—like satellite-to-mobile connectivity or manufacturing efficiency tech—are about to become very crowded and very competitive.

If you’re tracking China’s commercial space industry, the next 12 months are going to be defining.

2026 isn’t just a year for commercial space—it’s when the real race gets serious across multiple Chinese provinces competing to build commercial space industry leadership.

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References

• A Major Year for Commercial Space: Over 10 Places Including Guangdong, Shandong, and Zhejiang Race to Deploy – 21st Century Business Herald
• Latest Financial and Business News – 21st Century Business Herald
• China’s Commercial Space Industry Growth Trends – SCIO
• Official Website – Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)