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SCIO press conference on 'China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective' white paper

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Xinhua News Agency:

We know that space development requires high investment. How do you view the investment? How does China's space industry serve its economic and social development and help improve the people's well-being? Thanks.

Zhao Jian:

Thank you for your questions. Space development is the common cause of mankind. On the first China Space Day, General Secretary Xi Jinping said, "To explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power is a dream we pursue unremittingly." The space industry reflects a country's overall development of science and technology. In developing the space industry, we must "attain to the broad and great while addressing the delicate and minute." We need to promote the leap-frog development of space science and space technology and transform the achievements of scientific and technological innovation into the forces driving economic and social development.

First, China attaches great importance to space development, and the Chinese people have provided strong support. Space development indeed requires high investment. However, space development and applications can yield substantial benefits. According to preliminary statistics, the input-output ratio of the space industry can exceed 1:10. The application of new space technology has brought about tremendous changes in industrial development. The transformation and applications of space technology serve as strong forces driving economic growth and the development of smart transportation, new energy, new materials, etc. They also play an essential role in supporting the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Therefore, the high investment in the space industry can produce a high output, and the overall benefit is considerable.

Second, aerospace applications have been widely used in various economic and social fields, such as land and resources surveys, environmental protection, agricultural development, forests and grasslands monitoring, disaster prevention and mitigation, weather forecasting, marine development, transportation, education, medical care, and urban and rural construction. In addition, the derived applications of new technologies from aerospace applications have also entered thousands of households. Ordinary people can also experience and feel the improvements to life created by aerospace technologies. For example, communication and broadcasting satellites can provide people with global mobile communications, live radio and television broadcasts, and high-speed broadband internet access, which greatly helped facilitate people's digital lives in the information age; satellite navigation positioning has become an indispensable assistant in people's daily lives, which has greatly facilitated people's transportation and travel and changed people's means of work and lifestyle. Meanwhile, meteorological satellites can provide accurate weather forecasts around the world and in specific regions and provide weather guarantees for people's clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

As another example, satellites are more effective for disaster prevention and mitigation. The high-definition nephograms of typhoon observations produced by high-resolution satellites can clearly observe the structure of a typhoon eye and the pattern of movement and changes, and there were no omissions for typhoons occurred throughout the year around the world. This greatly reduces the cost of disaster prevention and mitigation, and the economic and social benefits are significant. In addition, high-resolution satellites have also played a very important role in preventing forest fires and responding to floods. Recently, a volcanic eruption occurred in Tonga. The CNSA launched the Earth Observation System in an emergency capacity, mobilized more than a dozen satellites to conduct high-frequency observations, and provided relevant imagery data to international organizations in a timely manner.

Third, the development of the aerospace sector not only promotes the rapid formation of the aerospace industry chain but also empowers traditional industries, promoting industrial upgrading and improving quality and efficiency. The aerospace industry is a highly complex and large-scale aggregation, which will help vigorously promote the development of the entire industry chain. It is the same everywhere from a global perspective. A solidly founded aerospace industry is becoming fertile ground for commercial aerospace development, a highland for talents from multiple fields, and a bridgehead for new technology integration and innovation. At present, aerospace technologies are increasingly playing a role in driving growth of related industries, as the result, the latter are showing a great development momentum, and a pattern of intensive, explosive growth of industrial applications has gradually formed. New development patterns have been shaped: centrally-administered state-owned enterprises driving the development of local areas, local governments encouraging characteristic enterprises to gather and develop, and advantageous private capital participating in specialized investment. Through commercial development, these will form a synergy with government investment to further improve the efficiency of aerospace development.

We believe that aerospace development will continuously improve people's wellbeing and vigorously promote the realization of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The further development and utilization of aerospace technologies will also help us jointly guard this blue planet and benefit the people. Thank you!