Musk, Space Technology, and U.S.-China Relations

In July, immediately after China successfully retrieved lunar samples from the far side of the Moon, Dr. Mei Gechlik, Founder and CEO of SINOTALKS?, encouraged China to invite scientists from different countries, including the United States, to study these samples.? Dr. Gechlik made the following observation: “The determination of U.S. scientists to remain competitive in lunar exploration may prompt them to urge U.S. authorities to accept China’s olive branch. […] If this occurs, a new era of ‘moon diplomacy’ will begin.”? According to Reuters, a few U.S. universities are now contributing their efforts to make such U.S.-China joint studies possible.

Will this potential U.S.-China space collaboration open a door for Elon Musk to leverage his connections with Beijing and President-elect Donald Trump to create win-win opportunities for U.S. investment in China’s space-related industries?? What types of space-related investments will likely survive rigorous regulatory reviews in China and the United States?? The way in which China’s “wish list” for space-related investments evolves over the coming months, along with corresponding U.S. reactions, will help answer these questions.

China’s “Wish List” for Space-Related Investments

Jointly issued by China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the country’s Ministry of Commerce in 2022, the current version of China’s Catalogue of Industries for Encouraging Foreign Investment provides a list of nearly 1,500 types of industries, in which foreign investors are “encouraged” to invest.

With respect to space-related investments, foreign investors are welcome to invest in the following industries anywhere in China:

137. Production of high-and-new-tech non-ferrous metal materials and their products: high-temperature superconducting materials, […] precious metal composite materials, light metal composite materials, new-generation information technology industry, equipment for aviation and aerospace, […].

140. Research and development as well as manufacturing of lightweight and environment-friendly new materials for aviation, aerospace, shipbuilding, automobiles, and motorcycles (special aluminum plates, aluminum-magnesium alloy materials, aluminum alloy frames for motorcycles, etc.).

289. Research and development as well as production of new materials for aviation and aerospace.

[emphasis added]

Foreign investors are specifically encouraged to invest in “the manufacturing of equipment related to aerospace [emphasis added]” in Hainan Province and in “the production of special ceramics and the development of technology and equipment used in various fields, including […] medicine, electronics, aviation, and aerospace [emphasis added]” in Sichuan Province.

The United States’s Restrictions

The above opportunities in China should appeal to U.S. investors, though these same investors should bear in mind a new development in the United States. […]

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