The Growth of China’s Non-governmental Space Sector in the Context of Government Support for Public-Private Partnerships: An Assessment of Major Legal Challenges

Abstract

The effectiveness of public-private partnerships (PPPs) has been emphasized in Chinese policy-making discourse in recent years, and policies have been introduced to promote the adoption of PPPs. A 2016 White Paper on China’s space activities advocated for policies that encourage ‘social forces’ (including non-governmental space entities) to participate in space development. The White Paper proposed amending the government procurement process of space products and services and facilitating cooperation with the private space sector. Furthermore, ‘satellite internet’ was introduced into the scope of space policy as a new type of infrastructure, providing opportunities to establish PPPs in space programs. Nonetheless, the military-dominated nature of space exploration has resulted in a complicated administration and strict supervision of non-governmental entities in order to develop space activities, including launching satellites. In addition, government-owned enterprises, commonly acknowledged as ‘public’ parties of PPPs, are counted among the ‘social forces’ authorized to act as ‘private’ parties in the Chinese PPP market. Therefore, favorable PPP policies are applied to public entities. This impedes the growth of underdeveloped non-governmental space entities, and as such, this is an issue that needs to be addressed. From a national space legislation perspective, clear and supportive rules for non-governmental space activities administration and permissions of operation should be established. Concerning PPP rules, based on fully considering existing laws, measures ought to be taken to improve the procurement measures of space products and services. Moreover, rules concerning the ‘value for money’ evaluation criteria and other details deserve to be created or improved upon to ensure non-governmental participants benefit in PPP programs conducted with public partners.