Yantai, East China's Shandong province, has a solid industrial and scientific research foundation in the development of the aerospace industry. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_5ec6eb206937]

The Haiyang Oriental Aerospace Port in the coastal city of Yantai, East China's Shandong province, has gathered 21 industrial projects with a total investment of approximately 27.1 billion yuan ($3.76 billion) and involving satellite and rocket manufacturing, satellite applications, and high-end supporting industries. The port has thus become a key emerging industrial cluster in the local area.

On June 5, 2019, a Long March 11 solid carrier rocket was launched from Haiyang Port, marking the first successful maritime space launch in China.

"The independent and secure location of Haiyang Port meets the launch requirements of various orbit satellites, such as small inclination and sun-synchronous orbit satellites, and it possesses natural advantages for developing the commercial aerospace industry," stated Zhang Hua, deputy general manager of Oriental Aerospace Port Group.

Leveraging progress on the construction of the Oriental Aerospace Port, Haiyang aims to use maritime launches as a driving force, provide integrated solutions for satellite launches, and build an industrial agglomeration area covering the entire industrial chain with the goal of creating a low-cost, high value-added, full industrial chain commercial space high-tech industrial cluster.

Yantai, where Haiyang is located, surpassed a GDP of over 1 trillion yuan in 2023, entering the "1-trillion-yuan GDP club." Yantai is a major industrial city and a strong manufacturing city, with industrial categories covering 37 out of 41 major industries in the national economic industry.

The city has a solid industrial and scientific research foundation in the development of the aerospace industry, and it has cultivated a number of leading enterprises in marine equipment, such as CIMC Raffles and Penglai Jutal Offshore Engineering, aerospace representatives like Oriental Bluesky Titanium Technology Co Ltd and Huayu Aerospace, and research institutes such as the Lanzhou Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Harbin Engineering University Yantai Research Institute, all of which are now serving as strong driving forces for growth of Yantai's aerospace industry, as well as local economic and social development.