At the Jinan Satellite Assembly Base, advanced equipment, including a 20-ton vibration test platform and an anechoic chamber, is arranged in an orderly fashion. This is Shandong Province's first flexible, intelligent, pulse-type satellite production line, capable of manufacturing 100 satellites weighing 500 kilograms annually. It offers comprehensive manufacturing and testing services for communication and remote sensing satellites.
"The first satellite from the Jinan base was completed earlier this year. We currently hold orders for 12 satellites and expect to complete more than 20 within the year," said Xu Qiang, General Manager of Jigang Group.
Satellite manufacturing is a new venture for Jigang. Established in 1958, the company was once a major player in China's steel industry, with an annual output reaching over 12 million tons and ranking among the nation's top ten steel producers. It was the country's largest producer of medium and heavy steel plates. However, facing industry overcapacity and national supply-side structural reforms, Jigang completely shut down its primary steel operations and embarked on a transformation journey.
"With over 60 years of industrial heritage, Jigang had to find a new industrial path to continue its legacy—this is a second startup, a rebuilding of Jigang," Xu Qiang explained.
Finding a new direction was challenging. Jigang's strategy was to seize an opportunity. In 2019, Shandong Province signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Leveraging this, Jigang partnered with the Aerospace Information Research Institute of CAS to cross over into the aerospace industry, establishing it as its primary business.
"The aerospace industry is a prime example of developing new quality productive forces and has vast market prospects," Xu Qiang noted. He added that Jinan offers distinct advantages for this development, including a comprehensive industrial base, a strategic location, and well-developed transport links that facilitate river-sea intermodal transport, solving land-based rocket transportation challenges.
For Jigang, transformation is not merely an "industry replacement" but a shift of existing capabilities towards new quality productive forces, converting its industrial heritage from the steel era into manufacturing prowess for the aerospace age.
The confidence for this shift stems from 68 years of accumulated industrial resources, including land, factories, skilled workers, and management experience. Jigang has creatively repurposed these assets: 5,700 mu of industrial land and 810,000 square meters of workshops have been partially converted into satellite assembly facilities and rocket testing bases. A significant number of its over 3,000 skilled workers have been retrained for the aerospace sector.
"Former steel welders have qualified in aerospace-grade techniques like plasma and friction stir welding, and maintenance workers have transitioned to satellite assembly technicians," Xu Qiang said. He emphasized that Jigang's current workforce of 3,400 skilled workers is well-suited for aerospace component manufacturing. Concurrently, the company is actively recruiting key talent, such as chief process engineers and technical leads, through market-oriented approaches to address the shortage of high-end expertise.
Currently, the only satellite AIT (Assembly, Integration, and Test) production line in Shandong approved by the National Development and Reform Commission—Jigang's flexible, intelligent line with a capacity of 100 satellites per year—saw its first phase commence operations in October 2025. In 2025, the company secured orders for 4 satellite AIT projects and successfully delivered one satellite. By 2026, it had accumulated orders for 12 complete satellites, steadily progressing towards its annual goal of 100 satellites.
The smooth operation of this production line signifies that Jigang now possesses the robust capability to provide "one-stop, batch-produced" satellite manufacturing solutions for various commercial space missions.
Simultaneously, in the rocket sector, Jigang Group has established a 168-mu liquid rocket engine and propulsion system testing base. This facility includes operational 20-ton, 100-ton dual-station engine test stands and a 600-ton liquid rocket propulsion system test stand, providing testing services for liquid oxygen/kerosene engines and liquid oxygen/kerosene and liquid methane propulsion systems for companies like Deep Blue Aerospace and Zhongke Aerospace.
As the lead enterprise in Jinan's aerospace industry chain, Jigang is driving the sector's development in the city under a spatial layout described as "R&D and design in Beijing—Manufacturing and testing in Jinan—Final assembly and launch in Yantai." This year, Jigang will also focus on integrating financial tools and capital empowerment into its core manufacturing processes, opening up application scenarios and building a complete industrial ecosystem of "manufacturing + capital + application."
The remarkable transformation of Jigang is just one example of Shandong's broader shift. Historically characterized by heavy and chemical industries, Shandong was defined by "two 70% figures": traditional industries accounted for 70% of its industrial structure, with heavy and chemical industries making up 70% of that. Today, Shandong is deepening the conversion of old and new growth drivers and promoting green, low-carbon, high-quality development. It has tackled the tough challenges of transformation: over the past five years, the province's energy intensity decreased by 22%, carbon emission intensity dropped by 20.5%, the number of high-tech enterprises surpassed 35,000, and the output value of high-tech industries reached 53% of the total, demonstrating the vigorous vitality of new quality productive forces.
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