China to advance forward-looking research in space computing power technologies, support related industry: MIIT official

Officials from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the country's top industry regulator, announced on Tuesday plans to conduct policy research and set standards for the coordinated development of computing power and electricity. MIIT also aims to promote the orderly development of the space computing power industry, chinanews.com reported.

The announcement was made during a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday, introducing developments in industry and information technology in the first quarter of 2026. Zhang Yunming, an MIIT official, stated that the ministry will guide the construction of computing power infrastructure based on demand and enhance China's national computing power platform.

Space-based computing refers to the deployment of computational capacity in space, enabling seamless global coverage through satellite networking. Compared with terrestrial data centers, its greatest advantages lie in real-time responsiveness and global coverage.

In recent years, computing infrastructure has become a key foundation driving the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Zhang said, adding that in the next step, the ministry will guide the coordinated layout of green power and computing power, advance full-coverage automated monitoring of computing resources, improve China's national computing power platform, facilitate precise matching of computing power supply and demand, and enhance the efficiency of computing resource utilization.

The ministry will further transform research results into practical applications, improve the computing power standard system, support forward-looking research in space computing power technologies, and orderly promote the development of the space computing power industry, Zhang said.

Chinese authorities and experts have emphasized the importance of developing the space computing industry.

Xiang Ligang, a veteran industry analyst and director-general of the Zhongguancun Modern Information Consumer Application Industry Technology Alliance, told the Global Times on Tuesday that compared with traditional terrestrial data centers, which face multiple bottlenecks such as high energy consumption, scarce land resources, high cooling costs, and limited coverage, space computing boasts advantages such as real-time on-orbit processing, low-cost energy and wide-area coverage.

It can help improve the efficiency of "space-based data processing," enhance space energy development capabilities, strengthen global coverage and anti-interference capabilities, and expand the boundaries of network applications, giving it significant strategic value and broad industrial prospects, Xiang said. Developing space computing can fundamentally break through the energy and spatial constraints of terrestrial computing, providing the digital economy with a new type of computing supply that is zero-carbon, green, sustainable, and widely accessible, he added.

Zhao Ce, an official from the MIIT's information and communications development department, stated at a recent conference on space computing industry that China should seize the potential opportunities presented by space computing power as an emerging industry and proactively address challenges related to chip performance, inter-satellite communication, power supply, and heat dissipation.

He also stressed the need to strengthen systematic planning, make forward-looking arrangements, deepen industrial development, strengthen coordination, and steadily and orderly advance the growth of the space computing industry, the Economic Daily reported on April 13.

"Space computing power is the extension and integration of terrestrial industries into space, and a frontier deployment for building a global ubiquitous computing network. It will strongly support the high-quality development of applications such as artificial intelligence," said Li Jie, deputy director of the Cloud and Big Data Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), according to the Economic Daily report.

On the international front, China is the first country to achieve in-orbit networking and operation of a space computing constellation. In terms of engineering practice and the speed of commercial implementation, it is already among the world's leaders, ranking in the top tier globally in the space computing power sector, said Xie Lina, deputy director of the data center department at the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute under the CAICT, the Economic Daily reported.

In recent years, China has gradually carried out pilot construction and verification of space computing networks, accelerated technological breakthroughs and advanced multiple constellation projects, Xinhua News Agency reported. Meanwhile, the country is accelerating the cultivation of the space computing industrial ecosystem, according to Xinhua.