A northern industrial powerhouse famed for its springs is now setting its sights on the vast expanse above. In the first half of 2026, 230 enterprises across the city's aerospace and low-altitude economy sectors generated revenues of 17.06 billion yuan. Behind these figures lies a strategic choice made by an old industrial city at a crossroads of transformation, as well as a systematic effort to leap from "ground-based manufacturing" to a "sky economy" and rebuild its competitive edge.

Why this move now: a strategic choice for an old industrial city

Jinan's foray into aerospace and the low-altitude economy is not a sudden industrial whim but a strategic act of self-awareness born from multiple converging factors. The most direct driver is the urgent need to break through in the city's transition to new growth drivers. In 2017, the full closure of Jinan Steel's production lines marked a turning point for the city's traditional heavy industry model. A city built on manufacturing had to quickly find a new growth pole after the old one exited. At that moment, national commercial space policy had just opened up, and the low-altitude economy was still in its infancy. Jinan keenly seized this window of opportunity—not simply filling an industrial void, but migrating its long-accumulated industrial capabilities toward high-end manufacturing. It was a viable and inevitable path.

The unique competitiveness granted by its geographical location provides the natural foundation for this aerospace push. Jinan sits at the intersection of four major economic circles: it borders Beijing's sci-tech innovation resources to the north, connects to the Yangtze River Delta industrial clusters to the south, links to the central plains economic hinterland to the west, and faces a maritime launch base to the east. This places the city squarely at the pivotal point of the "R&D- Manufacturing- Launch" chain in the aerospace industry, enabling efficient coordination of regional resources. Its robust road, rail, and water transportation networks, enhanced by the restoration of the Xiaoqing River, allow rockets under 7 meters in diameter to be transported via river-sea intermodal routes directly to the Haiyang and Wenchang launch sites, providing vital logistical support for commercial space development. The spatial development layout of "Beijing for R&D and design, Jinan for manufacturing and testing, and Yantai for assembly and launch" gives Jinan an integrated "manufacturing plus shipping" capability rarely found in inland cities.

The need for transformation is the internal drive, and geographical advantages are the hard support. But what ultimately turned the blueprint into reality was Jinan's sharp grasp and systematic implementation of national strategic opportunities. In 2024, commercial space and the low-altitude economy were written into the government work report for the first time, positioning them as strategically important emerging industries at the national level. Jinan quickly recognized this as a new track where it was starting from the same line as most other cities. Consequently, the municipal party committee and government listed aerospace and the low-altitude economy among six key industries to advance and 13 signature industry chains. They established an industry development office and a dedicated low-altitude economy development division within the Development and Reform Commission. A comprehensive, high-level promotion mechanism was swiftly put in place, providing solid institutional guarantees for this "sky economy" initiative.

Building momentum: from point breakthroughs to broad progress

In just a few short years, Jinan has preliminarily established a complete industrial system covering rocket manufacturing, satellite production, low-altitude aircraft manufacturing, and operational services. Stepping into the clean assembly workshop of Jinan Satellite Industry Development Company, one can see component assembly, cable laying, and functional testing proceeding in an orderly manner. This offers a glimpse into Jinan's solid progress in satellite and rocket manufacturing. Jinan Steel, once among the country's top ten steel enterprises, has now fully pivoted, laying out high-end equipment manufacturing for rockets, satellites, aircraft, and drones, while simultaneously building out the entire chain from rocket launch and telemetry to commercial satellite data applications. Jinan Satellite's AIT production line received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission in February 2025, marking it as the first flexibly and intelligently operated satellite AIT line in Shandong Province to pass approval. Designed with an annual capacity of 100 500-kilogram-class satellites, the line completed equipment installation and commissioning in October 2025 and has entered trial production.

Progress in the low-altitude integrated sector has been equally notable. "The first phase of the Jinan Low-Altitude AI Eco-City—the Aviation Equipment 6S Support Base and Comprehensive Testing Field project—is essentially complete," revealed Hu Bin, general manager of Jinan Low-Altitude Economic Development Group, during a citywide themed interview on aerospace and low-altitude economy industries on August 20. The group has deployed over 300 sets of drone automatic hangars across all 12 districts and counties, as well as the southern mountain area, the high-tech zone, and the new old kinetic energy conversion pilot zone, achieving full municipal coverage of grid-based automated drone inspection. State Grid Intelligent Technology Company, a Jinan-grown benchmark in power drones, has deployed 152 sets of drone airports across the city, covering 7,636 square kilometers of airworthy airspace with near-total coverage. It has completed over 25,000 power inspection sorties, dramatically improving efficiency and safeguarding grid operations.

Breakthroughs and commercialization of key technologies represent the most valuable link in this industrial closed loop. Qilu Institute of Aerospace Information has undertaken over 400 research projects, authorized 159 invention patents, and successfully developed the SAR payload for the "Haishao-2" satellite. The nation's first Aerospace Information University is accelerating its construction and will form a dual "research plus education" engine alongside the Qilu Institute. From "point breakthroughs" to "broad progress," an interconnected industrial loop of "R&D- Manufacturing- Operations- Services" is rapidly taking shape.

Breaking new ground: an industrial ecosystem for stable flight

Among the many cities vying for aerospace and low-altitude economic development, Jinan has carved out a distinctive path. First, Jinan's "sky economy" endeavor is an exercise in "ecosystem cultivation." While many cities attract emerging industries through heavy investment, Jinan has focused on endogenous cultivation. Following the "R&D- Manufacturing- Launch- Operations- Applications" ecosystem-building approach, Jinan has forged collaborative chains spanning commercial rocket propulsion R&D, final assembly integration, and precision parts manufacturing, as well as commercial satellite design, AIT integration, and operational maintenance. It continues to densify the industrial chain, building an arrow-and-satellite-integrated, scenario-driven industrial landscape. With Jinan Steel as the "chain leader," the company collaborates with Erjichuang Group to research and produce 20 types of aerospace-grade rocket components. Jinan Steel subsidiaries are involved throughout the rocket "testing- manufacturing- supporting" stages, covering the entire value chain from base materials to terminal maintenance, and from technical processes to qualification compliance. To date, Jinan Steel has nurtured one national-level "little giant" specialized enterprise, 11 provincial-level "specialized, refined, differential, and innovative" SMEs, three provincial gazelle enterprises, one provincial manufacturing single-item champion, and 14 high-tech enterprises—a true "ecological forest" grown from the local industrial soil.

Second, Jinan emphasizes goal orientation to make its industrial path clearer. The biggest risk in the low-altitude economy is safety hazards arising from "uncontrolled growth." Before "taking to the skies," Jinan took the lead in establishing its regulatory framework, flight service platform, and infrastructure network. It has successively issued documents such as the Jinan Aerospace Information Industry High-Quality Development Action Plan (2024-2027) and the Jinan Low-Altitude Economy High-Quality Development Implementation Plan, and compiled the Jinan 15th Five-Year Plan for Low-Altitude Economy Development, precisely defining its development positioning and providing systematic support for industry growth. At the same time, Jinan released a list of low-altitude application scenario capabilities and selected an initial batch of 40 scenarios, creating a diverse, cross-sectoral range of low-altitude applications. By solidifying the foundation for "manageable" skies before opening up "well-used" scenario innovations, the low-altitude economy in Jinan has been put on a regulated track from the very start.

Institutional innovation has also moved to the forefront. Jinan took the lead nationally in issuing a high-level talent classification and recognition catalogue for aerospace and low-altitude sectors, exploring flexible mechanisms of "talent defined by position and compensated by salary." It has already recognized 22 senior professionals. Perhaps most noteworthy is the deep coupling between Qilu Institute of Aerospace Information and Jinan's industries. The institute is not an isolated research silo, but a "technology engine" embedded within the local industrial chain. It has carried out over 300 industry-academia collaborations with a horizontal funding volume of 780 million yuan, with technological outcomes directly fed into enterprise production lines. The Aerospace Information University and the institute operate under a mechanism integrating "science and education," jointly advancing talent development, technological innovation, platform and team building, and industry-academia-research cooperation, turning innovation into "workshop-level productivity."

From the transformation pains of a steel city to the flourishing ascent of a sky economy, Jinan's practice proves that pursuing a sky economy is not a simple addition of industries, but a systematic reinvention of manufacturing capability, innovation systems, and institutional design. As "Made in Jinan" satellites streak across the sky and drones navigate the urban airspace in orderly patterns, this old industrial city, known for its springs, is writing a new story of "growing upward."