Nigeria Times

On March 18, the Global Media Dialogue took place in Abuja, Nigeria. Organized by the China Media Group Africa and the University of Abuja, the event focused on “Enhancing China-Africa Cooperation in New Quality Productive Forces to Realize High-Quality Growth.”

Around 50 people attended, including political party representatives, government officials, scholars, media representatives, and students from the University of Abuja. They discussed ways to deepen China-Africa cooperation and capitalize on development opportunities by aligning China’s strategies with African needs.

（ABDUL RASHEED NA’ALLAH，VICE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA）

During the dialogue, Abdul Rasheed Na’Allah, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, expressed hope to benefit from China’s development plans. He emphasized the university’s willingness to deepen cooperation, particularly in aerospace and agricultural science.” The University of Abuja has established an innovation center and hopes to jointly promote the research and development of New Quality Productive Forces with China, thereby leading Nigeria development and progress” Na’Allah said.

（Wang Yingqi, Minister-Counselor (Economic & Commercial) of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria）

On his part Wang Yingqi, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, highlighted China’s shift towards high-quality development and its willingness to work with Nigeria to foster new productive forces. Mr Wang said “In the past ten years, China’s innovation ranking has improved significantly – its new energy, high-end equipment, and biotechnology have improved significantly. The proportion of emerging industries in the economy continues to increase.”

He noted that “The cooperation between Nigeria and China in economy, investment and trade is in a leading position among African countries. China-Nigeria cooperation has made positive contributions to the healthy development of economic globalization. China is willing to work with Nigeria to jointly cultivate new productive forces and create new development pattern.”

（YABAKI.SANI, CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF NIGERIA）
Also in attendance was Yabagi Sani, chairman of the Action Democratic Party of Nigeria. He stressed the complementary nature of China and Africa’s resources and advantages, proposing deeper cooperation to promote high-quality development. According to him – “China has rich experience in the field of digital economy and e-commerce. China can help African countries achieve digital transformation in industries such as finance, medical care and education, and promote Africa to accelerate economic growth and achieve leapfrog development.”

（JIBRIN BABA NDACE, DIRECTOR GENERAL/CEO – VOICE OF NIGERIA）

Jibrin Baba Ndace Director General/CEO of Voice Of Nigeria, commended policies like the Belt and Road Initiative for promoting infrastructure development and economic integration in Africa. “The new productivity and high-quality development strategies proposed by China are of far-reaching significance, which will bring China-Africa cooperation into a new stage, and will further unleash the huge potential of China-Africa cooperation through innovation and capacity building” Ndace noted.

（ALI ADAMU, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND INVESTMENT OF NIGERIA）

Ali Adamu, Deputy Director of the Industrial Development Department of Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, emphasized the need for Nigeria to improve productivity with China’s assistance, especially in advanced manufacturing.
“Nigeria needs to improve productivity with the help of China. China’s experience in advanced manufacturing can help Nigeria accelerate the pace of industrialization”.

（Guests’ free discussion session）

During the interactive session, participants highlighted the importance of manufacturing and industrialization for Africa’s development, suggesting African countries actively attract investment from Chinese enterprises. Overall, participants appreciated the dialogue as a valuable platform for understanding China’s new trends and enhancing exchanges between Nigeria and China.

By Xu Peiyu

Jujube farmer Ding Taiping in Xiawa township, Binzhou, east China’s Shandong province recently made some new friends – students of a “science and technology backyard” (STB) program that studies the cultivation of jujubes from China Agricultural University.

“I’ve been growing jujubes for many years, but this is the first time I’ve interacted with university students in the fields,” said Ding.

He said he thought it would be impossible for these students, who had never set foot in the field, to solve farmers’ problems when the STB was established in the township earlier this year.

“But after spending some time together, they’ve actually tackled some challenges that had troubled me for a long time. Particularly by combining traditional ‘local methods’ with new techniques through standardized cultivation practices, efficiency has improved significantly,” Ding told People’s Daily.

The STB is a practical and integrated talent cultivation model that China Agricultural University began exploring in 2009. It dispatches postgraduate students in agricultural majors to the field, where they, based on what they have learned theoretically, study and solve real-world problems in agricultural and rural development, with an aim to cultivate high-level agricultural talents and serve the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Since the first STB program was launched in 2009, this model has soon gained widespread recognition, attracting an increasing number of research institutes and universities to join in, including Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University (NAFU).

In 2021, NAFU set up a STB program for the studies of vegetable technologies in Jingyang county, Xianyang, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, which serves three counties and 17 demonstration agricultural parks in Xianyang.

Zhang Mingke, associate research fellow at NAFU and chief expert at the Jingyang STB, said the program develops and introduces new crop varieties, and studies techniques such as efficient cultivation and facility soil secondary salinization improvement and restoration.

New varieties and technologies developed by the program have been introduced to 12 counties and districts in Shaanxi province, as well as Qinghai province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region. They have been applied on over 1.52 million mu (around 101,333 hectares), generating over 200 million yuan ($27.8 million) in economic benefits, Zhang told People’s Daily.

“Over the past more than a decade, the STB model has pioneered a new path of deep integration between scientists and farmers, and close collaboration between technology and industry. This has unleashed the potential of increasing farmers’ incomes, while cultivating a high-quality agricultural talent pool that is rooted in rural areas,” said Zhong Denghua, Party head of China Agricultural University.

To date, over 1,200 STBs have been set up by 74 institutions across the country, which involve more than 2,700 experts and 5,200 postgraduate students. According to incomplete statistics, these STBs have introduced and made innovations on 284 green agricultural production technologies, which are applied on a total area of 566 million mu and have increased income or cut costs by over 70 billion yuan.

While emerging across China, the STBs have also been sharing their experiences with the rest of the world.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been promoting the STB model globally for three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023, hailing it as a typical case of assisting smallholder farmers.

Last September, FAO official Selvaraju Ramasamy visited Quzhou county in north China’s Hebei province, where China’s first STB was established. He was impressed to learn that local farmers were actually “experts” in technology and marketing and were able to earn over 2,800 yuan per mu annually.

“Remarkable! This demonstrates the value of promoting the STB model worldwide,” he exclaimed.

In 2019, China Agricultural University launched a training program to cultivate young African talents that would help improve smallholder production in Africa. Augustine Talababi Phiri, an  agronomist from Malawi, joined the program.

Last November, three STBs were established in Malawi. Thanks to his knowledge learned and experience gained in China, Phiri was appointed the head of a STB in Lisasadzi, Malawi’s Kasungu District, promoting the Chinese model locally.

A staff member of China Agricultural University told People’s Daily that the training program has nurtured 72 agriculture-related graduate students from over 10 African countries so far.

African farmers said they welcome the STBs and hope these programs can bring practical technologies to help them grow more food.

Moreover, NAFU has taken the lead in establishing the Silkroad Agricultural Education and Research Innovation Alliance, which has been joined by 106 scientific and educational institutions and enterprises from 18 countries so far.

Zhang said the universities are responsible for the research, development, and talent support related to crop varieties, products, and technologies, while local governments organize order-based production. Chinese enterprises then demonstrate the achievements and procure the products, achieving deep integration of production, education, research, and application.

“In the next step, NAFU and China Agricultural University will cooperate with the FAO, as well as relevant countries’ agricultural departments and enterprises to establish more STBs and cultivate more young talents willing to work on the frontline of agricultural production,” Zhang said.

By Cheng Yuanzhou, People’s Daily

After meals were packed, weighed, and mounted to drones, these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) took off under unified control, and arrived at office buildings across an overpass in just two minutes. They autonomously delivered the meals and returned.

The delivery drone fleet has become a spectacle in a commercial area in Longgang district, Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province.

“In this commercial area, the drones deliver over 300 orders every day. During the lunchtime, they take off and land almost every minute,” said Yan Yan, head of public affairs for drone operations at Meituan, a Chinese shopping platform for locally found consumer products and retail services.

According to Yan, Meituan has opened multiple drone routes in Shenzhen, delivering a total of over 200,000 orders to communities, office buildings, tourist attractions, hospitals, and universities. The platform has established a community drone delivery model that is able to delivery orders to destinations within 3 kilometers in 15 minutes.

In fact, food delivery by drones is no longer a novelty in Shenzhen. From sightseeing to urban security, from medical assistance to emergency rescue, and from agricultural and forestry protection to power line inspections, the low-altitude economy is finding more and more application scenarios in Shenzhen.

For instance, taking a helicopter ride operated by Heli-Eastern has become a convenient transportation option for citizens going from Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport to areas like Guangming and Pingshan districts of Shenzhen; a “lifeline” for transporting blood products via drones from the Shenzhen Blood Center to hospitals in Nanshan and Bao’an districts has been established; at the power transmission management office of Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau Co., Ltd., 5G-enabled drones have been employed regularly in high-voltage cable terminal inspection on transmission towers.

“Shenzhen has listed the low-altitude economy as one of the 20 key strategic emerging sectors for development. The city aims to drive the development of this new sector with technological innovation and by creating more application scenarios,” said Zhao Ke, an official of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Transport.

According to Zhao, Shenzhen has opened 126 low-altitude air routes and established 89 unmanned aerial vehicle takeoff and landing points. Last year, the city saw 600,000 flights of cargo drones and 20,000 flights of helicopters, Zhao said.

Yang Jincai, chairman of the Shenzhen UAV Industry Association, revealed that by 2023, Shenzhen reported low-altitude economy output of 96 billion yuan ($13.35 billion), and was home to over 1,700 companies engaged in the industry. The city has developed a complete industrial chain covering drone R&D, design, manufacturing, operation and support.

Currently, Shenzhen holds a market share of over 70 percent in the consumer drone sector globally, and 50 percent in the industrial drone sector.

The rapid development of the low-altitude economy in Shenzhen is attributed to the city’s strategic efforts to seize development opportunities and continuously improve relevant policy systems.

In 2017, Shenzhen became a comprehensive demonstration zone for the general aviation industry. In 2019, measures were introduced to designate airspace for micro and light UAVs. On Feb. 1 of this year, regulations on the promotion of the low-altitude economy in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone officially came into effect, normalizing the development of the low-altitude economy in terms of infrastructure, flight services, industrial applications, technological innovation, and safety management.

Zhao said that the first phase of a project on promoting infrastructure for intelligent low-altitude integration in Shenzhen is currently accelerating its pace. The project aims to preliminarily establish an infrastructure network, air connectivity network, flight route network, and service network to support the low-altitude economy.

Besides, innovative platforms such as a smart air traffic operation laboratory are also being constructed. In the future, Shenzhen will gradually carry out UAV operations and integrated flight verification, as well as develop regulations, standards, and norms for low-altitude flights.

By Shi Renxuan

The separatist activities for “Taiwan independence” are the most destructive elements to the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when answering questions from Chinese and foreign media about China’s foreign policy and external relations recently.

To truly safeguard cross-Strait peace, the world must unequivocally oppose “Taiwan independence.” The stronger the commitment to the one-China principle is, the greater the guarantee for the peace across the Strait will be, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

This solemn stance on the Taiwan-related issues made by the Chinese government has given a serious warning to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and external forces behind them, once again sending a powerful message that the historical trend of upholding the one-China principle is unstoppable.

Taiwan is China’s Taiwan. The elections in Taiwan held this January are just local elections in one part of China. The result does not change, even in the slightest terms, the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China. Nor does it change the historical trend of Taiwan’s return to the motherland.

Since the elections ended, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons promptly shared the reaction of the international community to the elections. In just a few days, more than 100 countries and international organizations have reaffirmed their commitment to the one-China principle and their support for China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia said in a statement that Serbia, in accordance with its consistent policy and advocacy for adherence to the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, supports the one-China principle, that it does not recognize the statehood of Taiwan.

The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade reaffirmed Hungary’s commitment to the one-China principle in the country’s foreign policy.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Prime Minister of Nepal, said Nepal opposes “Taiwan independence,” never allows others to use Nepal’s territory to engage in any activities that harm China’s interests, and opposes any interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that the Russian side opposes any form of Taiwan’s independence, and called on all outside forces to refrain from provocative actions undermining regional stability and international security.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China, and any election or action carried out in Taiwan should not affect this fact.

Leaders of the Maldives, Sierra Leone and other countries issued joint press communiques or joint statements with the Chinese side during their visits to China, reaffirming their commitment to the one-China principle, opposition to external interference in China’s internal affairs, and support of all efforts made by China to achieve national reunification.

These voices of justice and peace reflect the broad consensus of the international community in firmly upholding the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, and embody the trend of the times and of history.

The one-China principle is what underpins peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change; the Chinese government’s position of upholding the one-China principle and opposing “Taiwan independence” separatism, “two Chinas” and “one China, one Taiwan” will not change; and the international community’s prevailing consensus on upholding the one-China principle and long-standing and overwhelming adherence to this principle will not change.

A few countries, out of geopolitical considerations and ideological confrontation, have chosen to stand in opposition to the vast majority of countries in the international community, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle. While paying lip service to not supporting “Taiwan independence,” they announce arms sales to Taiwan and collude with the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.

The Democratic Progressive Party authority has obstinately adhered to the separatist position of “Taiwan independence” and refused to recognize the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus. It made provocations in pursuit of “independence” in collusion with external forces. Such acts of undermining the one-China principle are despicable and deplorable. These are the root causes of the tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese government and people have a clear stance on such plots and tricks. Whoever engage in “Taiwan independence” on the island will be held accountable by history. Whoever in the world connive at and support “Taiwan independence” will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing.

Standing up for the one-China principle is the right thing to do. It has the overwhelming support of the international community and represents the prevailing trend of the world. A total of 183 countries have established diplomatic relations with China based on the one-China principle. Taiwan’s number of so-called “diplomatic allies” has been reduced to 12, and these countries only account for less than 0.3 percent of the world’s population. It’s obvious to see which one represents the mainstream and the general trend.

On Jan. 15 this year, the day after the elections in Taiwan concluded, the Nauru government announced its recognition of the one-China principle and severed the so-called “diplomatic relations” with the Taiwan authorities. The country said it is willing to resume diplomatic relations with China.

On Jan. 24, China and Nauru signed a joint communique on the resumption of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Nauru’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Aingimea said during his visit to China that the one-China principle is an irresistible trend in the world.

It is believed that more members of the international society will see the historical trend and choose to establish or resume diplomatic relations with China. The international community’s prevailing consensus on upholding the one-China principle will become more solid. The Chinese people’s just cause of opposing “Taiwan independence” separatism and external interference and striving for national reunification will win more understanding and support.

Some day, there will be a family photo of the whole international community in which all members uphold the one-China principle. It is only a matter of time.

(Shi Renxuan is an observer of international affairs.)

By Liu Zhonghua, People’s Daily

A side event of the 55th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council was held on March 12 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities.

The event was co-hosted by the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities of the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Permanent Missions of Mexico, New Zealand and Finland to Geneva, and UN Women.

The event was joined by over 100 people both virtually and in-person, including diplomats from multiple countries, personnel of relevant international organizations and non-governmental organizations, and journalists.

Chen Xu, permanent representative of China to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. China is willing to work with all parties to take relevant anniversaries as an opportunity to take practical measures to eliminate the difficulties faced by persons with disabilities and truly realize the goal of “no one should be left behind.”

He said China places high importance on the development of the cause of persons with disabilities. It has implemented more than 90 laws to protect the rights and interests of persons with disabilities, including the Law on the Construction of Barrier-free Environment, established a subsidy system covering more than 27 million persons with disabilities, and created “Beauty Workshops” to promote employment for women with disabilities.

He put forward three propositions of China on promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, which are as follows:

First, promote social inclusion and eliminate prejudice and discrimination against persons with disabilities. Second, strengthen guarantees, speed up the construction of barrier-free and age-appropriate facilities, and establish and improve assistance system. Third, increase participation and promote the employment and entrepreneurship of disabled people and their equal participation in economic, social and cultural affairs.

Ambassadors of Mexico, New Zealand and Finland to Geneva delivered speeches. Former Special Rapporteurs on the rights of persons with disabilities of the UN Human Rights Council, chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as officials with the OHCHR, UN Women, UN Children’s Fund and International Committee of the Red Cross shared their views on protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. Participants to the event also had interactive dialogues.

By Liu Fawei

In Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian province, a pattern resembling a heart and five pentagrams formed by mangroves with different heights stretches on the sea beside a bridge in Xiatanwei. Viewed from above, the sight is quite spectacular.

This masterpiece is a proud creation of Lu Changyi, a professor at Xiamen University, and one of Xiamen’s iconic landscapes.

More than a decade ago, Xiatanwei was a dumping ground littered with waste. Due to reclamation and disorderly aquaculture activities, the bay area was a chaotic mess with severe seawater pollution, which led to serious damage of the mangrove forests there.

To make a change, Xiamen implemented a series of projects to restore its mangrove forests and invited a research team led by Lin Peng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Xiamen University, known as the “father of Chinese mangroves,” to conduct relevant studies. As a result, the team successfully planted approximately five hectares of experimental mangrove forests.

As Lin’s first graduate student, Lu witnessed the rebirth of the mangrove forests in Xiatanwei. From science-based conservation of mangroves to protecting biodiversity in mangrove forests, and to enhancing landscape at a mangrove forest park, Lu has been wholeheartedly dedicated to every aspect of the work over the years.

Lu said that the protected mangrove forests provide habitats and feeding grounds for fish, shrimp, crabs, and birds, increasing biodiversity and effectively improving the functionality of the ecosystem.

After more than a decade of science-based cultivation, the mangrove forests in Xiatanwei have been revived, bucking the global trend of accelerating mangrove loss.

“Today, the mangrove area in Xiatanwei has reached 85 hectares, forming a ‘green buffer zone’ that serves as a natural ecological barrier against natural disasters such as typhoons and storm surges,” Lu noted.

Statistics show that a significant increase in the number of species has been observed in Xiatanwei, with avian diversity now reaching 60 to 70 species.

“From the initial desilting and withdrawal of aquaculture over a decade ago to the recreation of wetlands, the once polluted waters of Xiatanwei have gradually evolved into a unique intertidal ecosystem, becoming the ‘green lungs’ of the bay area,” Lu said.

Pests and diseases pose a massive threat to mangrove forests, which may easily cause entire swaths to perish once an outbreak occurs. To promptly monitor pests and diseases and ensure the growth of planted mangroves, Lu specifically designed a sampling drone.

In addition to regular inspections, Lu and his team also conduct monthly “health check-ups” on the mangrove forests. “Whenever any abnormality is detected, the team immediately takes action,” Lu said.

Thanks to the efforts made by Lu’s team, Xiamen has established a continuous record of science-based mangrove conservation and management, which provides more scientific support for long-term effective protection.

Mangroves are flourishing in more and more areas in Xiamen today, from the Yundang Lake to the Haicang Bay, and to a newly designated 114-square kilometer development zone.

“Our unwavering efforts have paid off, and Xiamen’s mangrove forests are now in robust growth, with a remarkable increase in the diversity and population of marine life,” Lu said.

It’s been more than 40 years since Lu has dedicated himself to mangrove research and conservation. What he has done is motivating many around him.

Yu Xingguang, a class-of-2002 doctoral graduate from Xiamen University and former director of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, recalled that since he came to study at the university, Lu would take him and other students to plant trees on an islet on the Yundang Lake every China’s National Tree Planting Day on March 12.

“The mangroves and coastal plants we planted together back then have now grown into lush green canopies, vitalizing the islet built up with sediments in the lake,” Yu said. The islet has now become a “verdant pearl” in Xiamen.

Today, the Xiatanwei Mangrove Park stands as one of China’s exemplary cases of synergy between coastal ecological restoration and disaster mitigation. While improving the marine ecological environment and strengthening environmental protection, it has also yielded significant social and economic benefits.

Many locals and tourists now flock to the Xiatanwei Mangrove Park, the islet on the Yundang Lake, and other similar sites to get close to the nature. Lu said that while the mangrove ecosystem is protected and restored, the utilization of mangrove-related tourism resources has transitioned from an unsustainable approach of over-exploitation to one focusing on eco-education and edutainment.

“This change not only prevents harm to the mangrove forests but also prolongs the tourism industrial chain, improves tourists’ experience, and boosts economic gains,” Yu noted.

By Liu Shiyao, People’s Daily

At the beginning of 2024, a carrier rocket developed by Chinese commercial aerospace company OrienSpace blasted off from waters off the coast of Haiyang in east China’s Shandong province, sending three satellites into the planned orbit.

The Gravity-1 commercial carrier rocket is the world’s largest solid-propellant launch vehicle. Through technological innovation, its payload capacity has been expanded from 1 or 2 tons to 5 or 6 tons, while the launch costs have been reduced by over 30 percent.

The launch vehicle has facilitated the deployment of large-scale satellite constellations, enhanced China’s capacity for diversified and large-scale launches of medium- and low-orbit satellites and enriched the country’s launch vehicle variety.

The successful launch of the Gravity-1 rocket was a miniature of the rapid development of China’s commercial spaceflight.

Commercial spaceflight refers to the participation in the development of the space industry through commercial operations under market principles. It aims at exploring new mechanisms for the marketization and commercialization of national civil space infrastructure.

In recent years, China’s commercial space industry has transitioned from its initial stage to a period of rapid growth, becoming an important complement to the country’s space endeavors.

According to a recently published blue paper, a total of 26 commercial launches were completed (including rideshare and co-passenger launches), which accounted for 39 percent of the total launches in China. Among them, 25 were successful, marking a success rate of 96 percent.

Experts noted that China’s commercial space industry has witnessed vigorous growth, emerging from its infancy to become a thriving sector. The industry has preliminarily established an industrial system and market system.

Today, a number of private companies have entered various segments of the commercial space sector, including rocket launches, satellite manufacturing, and satellite application services. Each leading commercial spaceflight enterprise has shown its own characteristics and development trends in areas such as rocket and satellite development, constellation deployment, and data services.

A relatively flexible market mechanism would contribute to technological exploration and innovation in the commercial space industry.

Last year, China launched a Long March-2D rocket to place 41 satellites, including the Jilin-1 Gaofen 06A developed by the Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., in orbit, setting a domestic record for the most satellites lifted in one go.

The Zhuque-2 carrier rocket independently developed by Chinese private space launch provider LandSpace was successfully launched, becoming the world’s first rocket powered by liquid oxygen-methane fuel to be successfully launched in a row.

Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd., better known as iSpace, completed the second flight test mission for its commercial reusable rocket SQX-2Y, the first reuse of such rocket in China.

These achievements demonstrate the diverse research and development routes and directions of innovation of commercial space exploration, effectively promoting the overall progress of space technology.

With the help of satellite communication, it is now possible to make phone calls and send messages even in uninhabited areas. Commercial low-orbit satellites can immediately provide image coverage of the ground after earthquakes and other disasters, supporting emergency rescue efforts.

Zhong Xing, chief designer of Chang Guang satellites, said commercial remote sensing satellites have made China a world-class participator in remote sensing data acquisition. The price of satellite remote sensing data obtaining service has dropped from several hundred yuan to just over 10 yuan per square kilometer.

Zhong believes that the commercial space industry can help lower satellite launch costs and improve launch efficiency, thus contributing to large-scale satellite launches and faster constellation deployment, and better facilitating the economy, society, and people’s lives.

Experts said that China’s commercial space industry is bursting with vitality, demonstrating enormous market potential. High-frequency commercial launches will become a development trend, and intensive rocket launches will drive exponential growth in the number of commercial satellites. The networked deployment of low-Earth orbit satellite constellations will be an important trend in the development of commercial satellites.

Innovation is the gene of commercial spaceflight development. Chinese commercial space launch enterprise CAS Space has established a test center covering nearly 10,000 square meters in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, with an aim to meet various testing needs for the development of carrier rockets. Over 80 percent of the employees at OrienSpace are engaged in research and development. Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. has invested more than 1.3 billion yuan (around $180 million) in research and development so far.

These examples demonstrate the high importance placed on technological innovation.

Thanks to technological innovation, the commercial space industry has continuously developed new technologies and created new models, promoting industrial innovation along the innovation chain and accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces.

Experts believe that the fruitful results of China’s space innovation and the country’s rich reserve of space talents provide strong support for the commercial space industry. China has the world’s largest market demand and most application scenarios, which offers a huge market for the commercial space industry in terms of technology translation and consumption.