Xi’an is one of the birthplaces of China’s aerospace industry and is known as the “Hometown of Aerospace Power”. Backed by traditional aerospace units such as the Xi’an Branch of the Fifth Aerospace Academy, the Sixth and Fourth Aerospace Academy, and the Xi’an Satellite Measurement and Control Center, Xi’an in the commercial aerospace era has developed a commercial aerospace industry cluster with regional characteristics and a complete industrial chain.
Today let’s talk about: China’s top 10 commercial aerospace industry clusters in 2025—Shaanxi Xi’an Aerospace Power Industry Cluster.
1
The Hometown of Aerospace Power-Xi’an
The development of Shaanxi’s aerospace industry can be traced back to the third-line construction period, and has mainly gone through three development periods: early accumulation, platform construction and commercial aerospace.
1. National aerospace tradition and early accumulation
As one of the birthplaces of China’s aerospace industry, Xi’an has laid the foundation for core technologies such as aerospace power and satellite manufacturing as early as the last century, relying on “national team” units such as the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (liquid rocket engine development) and the Xi’an Branch of the Fifth Academy (satellite payload). These units have participated in major national projects such as Beidou navigation and lunar exploration projects, providing technology overflow and talent reserves for subsequent commercial aerospace.
2. Industrial platform construction period (2006-2015)
In 2006, Xi’an National Civil Aerospace Industry Base was established, becoming the only national economic and technological development zone in the country featuring the aerospace industry. After being approved as the national-level Shaanxi Aerospace Economic and Technological Development Zone in 2010, it began to systematically lay out the aerospace industry chain and form an industrial ecosystem integrating military and civilian operations. This period mainly focused on national missions, but accumulated infrastructure and industrial chain prototypes for commercial aerospace.
3. Commercial aerospace development and policy drivers (2015 to present)
As the state encouraged private capital to enter the aerospace field in 2014, Xi’an relied on its traditional advantages in rocket power and satellite overall fields to gradually attract rocket and satellite overall companies to settle in Xi’an after 2016. Blue Arrow Aerospace, Zhongke Aerospace, Galaxy Aerospace, etc. have successively established R&D centers in Xi’an.
After years of development, the Xi’an Aerospace Industry Cluster has grown into one of the industrial clusters with the highest concentration of industries in China, cultivating a number of hidden champion companies such as the chain owner Zhongke Xiguang, as well as Tianhui Aerospace, Zhongke Tianta, Oneworld Satellite, and Exar Technology.
2
Industrial agglomeration
According to data from the Qichacha Big Data Research Institute, as of June 2024, Xi’an has gathered 3,987 commercial aerospace-related companies, ranking first in the country in number, forming a full industrial chain of “rocket engine-satellite manufacturing-measurement and operation control-data application”. It has the most complete aerospace industry ecosystem in the country and is the core source of my country’s commercial aerospace development.
In the Xi’an Civil Aerospace Base, the main bearing area for Xi’an’s aerospace industry, there are more than 60 commercial aerospace companies gathered, including many leading companies such as Galaxy Aerospace, Blue Arrow Aerospace, Oriental Space, and Zhongke Star Chart.
3
Industrial Park
The specialized parks of Xi’an’s aerospace industry are mainly concentrated in the aerospace base and Baqiao District, while some supporting projects are located in the High-tech Zone and Xixian New District. The city has planned and constructed 11 aerospace industry cluster-type carrying parks, covering a total area of approximately 1,332.5 acres and a construction area of approximately 2.1985 million square meters.
4
technological breakthrough
Xi’an represents the highest level of liquid rocket power development in the country. The YF-102 in the Xi’an Aerospace Sixth Institute’s “9 aircraft in 8 years” plan has been successfully used on a variety of commercial rockets. The 200-ton hydrogen-oxygen engine YF-90, the 350-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine YF-135, and the 140-ton liquid oxygen-methane engine are all the best in the country.
On May 15, 2025, Tianhui Aerospace, a local company in Xi’an, completed the 200-second long-range test run of the independently developed 85-ton oxygen-kerosene rocket engine “Qiaolong No. 1”. The engine adopts an original staged combustion extraction cycle method and adopts an integrated structural fusion design, eliminating the gas generator and greatly simplifying the structure.
In addition to liquid rocket power, Xi’an also gave birth to the world’s first hyperspectral remote sensing constellation built by Zhongke Xiangguang, which can accurately monitor methane leakage; the aerospace AI large model “Huashan” developed by Zhongke Tianta can realize intelligent satellite management and control.
6
Industry Fund
At present, there are two main aerospace industry funds in Xi’an, namely the Industrial Multiplication Fund and the Financial Innovation Investment Fund under XITIC Holdings. There are 8 sub-funds of the Industrial Multiplier Fund under XIT Holdings involved in the aerospace industry, and 14 sub-funds of the Financial Innovation Investment Fund involved in the aerospace industry, with a total scale of over 10 billion.
7
Support policy
In 2024, the Shaanxi Development and Reform Commission released the “Shaanxi Province Action Plan to Cultivate a Hundred-Billion-level Commercial Aerospace Industry Innovation Cluster” to promote the development of Shaanxi’s commercial aerospace industry. Relevant departments have launched 31 provincial and municipal industrial policies, 18 technological innovation policies, 9 financial venture capital policies, and 6 talent recruitment policies that benefit the commercial aerospace industry, supporting the development of the commercial aerospace industry from various aspects such as industrial support, technological innovation, financial investment, and talent protection.
8
future development
According to the development goals of the “Shaanxi Province Action Plan to Cultivate a Hundred-Billion-level Commercial Aerospace Industry Innovation Cluster”, Shaanxi Province plans to have the scale of the commercial aerospace industry exceed 50 billion yuan by 2027, and the number of enterprises above designated size will exceed 100. By 2030, the scale of the commercial aerospace industry will exceed 100 billion yuan, and the number of enterprises above designated size will exceed 200.
In 2024, Xi’an invested 66.794 billion yuan in R&D funds, and the intensity of social R&D investment reached 5.56%, ranking third in the country; in the “2024 Global Science and Technology Clusters Top 100” released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Xi’an’s ranking has risen for three consecutive years, ranking 18th, showing amazing vitality in scientific and technological innovation.
With scientific research institutes such as the Fourth Aerospace Academy, the Sixth Aerospace Academy, the Xi’an Branch of the Fifth Aerospace Academy, and the 16th Aerospace Academy Ninth Academy, as well as scientific and technological innovation resources such as NPU and Xi’an Jiaotong University, it will become a strong competitor in China’s number one commercial aerospace city in the future.
