Jinan aiming for lift-off in aerospace sector

Jinan, the capital of Shandong province is ramping up efforts to develop its aerospace and low-altitude economy sectors, with 195 enterprises now operating in the fields and 80 key projects underway, local authorities said at a news conference on Thursday.

The city is building an integrated industrial chain that covers final assembly and diverse applications, while low-altitude application scenarios have expanded to 74, spanning production services, public services, logistics, and cultural events.

Traditional steelmaker Jigang Group Co Ltd has emerged as a standout player in the transformation push. The State-owned enterprise shut down its primary steel operations in 2017 and has since pivoted to high-end equipment manufacturing focused on aerospace, with business spanning rockets, satellites and drones.

Xu Qiang, general manager of Jigang Group, said the company has built a flexible satellite assembly line with an annual capacity of 100 satellites, the only such facility in Shandong approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

The Qilu Aerospace Information Research Institute, established in Jinan in 2019 under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has set up platforms to facilitate the transformation of scientific research into applications.

By introducing the national key research and development program based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System to Shandong, it has partnered with local universities and enterprises to drive industrial applications in areas such as agriculture and logistics.

This has led to the formation of an industrial structure centered on a high-precision Beidou positioning and navigation platform, supported by nine major application scenarios.