Key aerospace alliance gives Xiong'an a lift

Xiong'an New Area in Hebei province has witnessed a landmark achievement in enhancing its innovation capabilities as a key nationwide alliance has been established to promote the development of aerospace information and satellite internet, the province's top authority said.

On Wednesday, the China Aerospace Information and Satellite Network Innovation Alliance was officially founded in Xiong'an, marking a new era in aerospace information and satellite networkcooperation and development in the country.

"The approval of the alliance will greatly promote the aggregation of innovative elements and resources, helping Xiong'an become an innovation hub and entrepreneurial hot spot in the new era," Ni Yuefeng, secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at a ceremony on Wednesday.

Approved by central authorities, the alliance is a social organization involving key players from the telecom and aerospace sectors, and related universities and research institutes. It was jointly initiated by members of major State-owned telecom operators, including China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile, as well as key central enterprises such as the China Satellite Network Group.

The satellite group, an enterprise engaged in the design, construction and operation of satellite internet services, started using its new headquarters in the area's internet industrial park last month.

Established in April 2021, the company was the first centrally administered State-owned enterprise to settle down in the area. It will facilitate the gathering of resources in fields such as industry-related companies, technology and talent in Xiong'an and thus promote the development of satellite internet applications and the aerospace information industry.

More than 50 aerospace information companies have since settled down in the area, according to Wang Lijun, an official with the area's reform and development bureau, as quoted by Xinhua Daily Telegraph.

Efforts to develop the aerospace information industry are in line with the goal of building Xiong'an New Area into a global innovation highland.

Located about 100 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing, Xiong'an was set up in 2017 as part of a strategy to promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Satellite internet involves deploying a large number of satellites to build a global network. Each satellite serves as a mobile station in the sky, capable of delivering network signals to every corner of the Earth, according to a report by Xinhua Daily Telegraph on Thursday.

"We should expand the application scenarios of aerospace information and establish connection platforms in areas such as smart transportation, emergency rescue, water conservancy and flood control, urban governance, smart cultural tourism and modern logistics, allowing more innovative achievements to converge in Xiong'an and be transformed in Hebei," Ni said.

"Hebei and Xiong'an will fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and ensure governments better play their roles, making every effort to use the alliance as a platform to fully promote the development of aerospace information and satellite internet," he added.

Amid the efforts, Hebei will improve the aerospace information infrastructure, targeting 5G applications and 6G development and relying on the province's advantages in computing power and green energy to build supporting data centers to promote the deep integration of communication, navigation, remote sensing, as well as the integration of aerospace, aerial and ground systems, Ni said.

He added that Hebei will also expand the aerospace information industry cluster by persuading related enterprises to settle down in Xiong'an and improving the industrial and supply chains.

zhangyu1@chinadaily.com.cn