China names new chief to lead rocket maker and SpaceX rival CASC after predecessor stripped of political title

Chen Mingbo, hailed by media as ‘technical-minded official’, is appointed head of CASC, which positions itself as competitor of Elon Musk’s company
He takes over from Wu Yansheng, who has not attended company meetings since losing his seat on China’s top political advisory body in December

Science

Ling Xinin Ohio

Published: 7:00pm, 16 Mar 2024

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China’s main space programme contractor now has a new helmsman, marking another major leadership change in the country’s aerospace-defence sector.

Chen Mingbo had been appointed the chairman and Communist Party secretary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the company said on its official WeChat account on Friday.

CASC has named Elon Musk’s SpaceX as its main competitor. The two companies launched more rockets than any others last year, with SpaceX maintaining a significant lead.

The decision to appoint Chen, made by the party’s Central Committee, was announced by representatives from the committee’s Organisation Department during a meeting attended by the company’s mid-level to-high-ranking management, CASC said.

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Chen took over from Wu Yansheng, who chaired CASC from 2018 to 2023. Wu’s seat on China’s top political advisory body was revoked in December, and he has not shown up to company meetings since then.

CASC is China’s main builder of rockets and missile systems. Observers said the appointment might be a sign of Beijing’s anti-corruption efforts in its pursuit of better rocket and military capacity.

Chen has had an impressive career, first as an entrepreneur and then as a politician. He is often hailed as a “technical-minded official” by Chinese media.

He was born in Fenghua, Zhejiang province in 1968. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Shanghai University’s chemistry department in 1991 and went on to earn a PhD in engineering, according to Chinese media reports.

For years he headed research institutes and tech companies in Shanghai, including serving as the director of the Shanghai Institute of Space Power Sources and chairman of Shanghai Aerospace Power Technology Corporation.

He went on to hold political positions, including deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission and deputy secretary general of Shanghai’s municipal government.

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Before his CASC appointment, Chen oversaw industrial development and the application of information technology and big data in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing and was later promoted to executive deputy mayor of the municipality.

Wu, Chen’s predecessor at CASC, majored in missile and spacecraft design as a university student and received multiple awards from the government for his leadership in major aerospace projects and lunar missions.

Wu was stripped of his title as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference along with two other aerospace defence executives last year.