China's burgeoning commercial space sector gained a major boost on Saturday with the establishment of a dedicated regulatory body, signaling a strong commitment by the central government to support and manage the industry's rapid growth.
The Commercial Space Department, whose establishment was announced by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), will serve as the specialized regulator for all commercial space activities, marking a significant step toward fostering the sector's high-quality development and potentially benefiting the entire supply chain.
It came after the CNSA recently released an action plan to promote the high-quality and safe development of commercial space from 2025 to 2027. The plan aims to integrate commercial space into the country's overall space development layout.
In recent years, China's commercial space sector, which includes private companies building rockets, satellites, and offering space-related services, has achieved historic progress, driven by supportive policies, technological breakthroughs and market demand, through collaborative innovation across the industrial chain.
The number of commercial space enterprises in China has now surpassed 600, according to the CNSA.
China establishes new regulatory body to boost commercial space industry
China establishes new regulatory body to boost commercial space industry
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.
The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.
Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.
Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.
A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.
Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting
