The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) with 170,000 employees and annual revenue hovering around the US$34 billion-mark, is one of China's bigger SoEs and its core is the nation’s space program and missile development and an array of hi-tech defence projects from devastating ‘wave-riders’ to nuclear-powered space shuttles and micro rockets. The CASC is a massive entity with eight subordinate academies. Each of these academies has an array of research laboratories and institutes, and some even have their own universities. The group was established in 1956, as part of the Fifth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense.The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology, the China Academy of Space Technology and the Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology along with the Sichuan Academy of Aerospace Technology, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, China Aerospace Times Electronics Corporation and the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics are its subsidiaries. The China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) is also closely linked to the CASC. The CGWIC is a major shareholder in ZTE. Speaking on the sidelines of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing last October, CASC Chairman Lei Fanpei outlined the conglomerate’s approach. He said by 2045, the country will have caught up with the US in key aerospace projects and become a world space power. “To help improve the country’s strategic deterrence capabilities and consolidate the cornerstone for the country’s strategic security, CASC will contribute more to building the country into a strong innovation-driven space power.” CASC affiliates China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Second Academy and the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, have been included in a list of 44 “companies” subject to export controls. Meanwhile, China continues to put money into China Aerospace. Along with other government-backed companies, it put together a State-Owned Enterprises China Innovation Fund last year, worth 150 billion yuan (US$21.78 billion). This was the latest round of investment after Aerospace Capital, an arm of CASC, raised 200 billion yuan for 116 unnamed projects.
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