Beyond the domestic sphere, China’s current strategy for space is to dominate the Asia-Pacific market and become the market leader in the developing world. As satellites and launch costs decrease, access to space will expand, including to countries with lesser economic means. China is jointly engaged in developing a number of satellite programs, including an Earth observation constellation, with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru and Thailand. The burgeoning regional relationship in the area of space has been codified with the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization treaty, signed in October 2005 and the first treaty of its kind in Asia. Further afield, contracts have also been concluded with Nigeria and Venezuela, in December 2004 and November 2005, respectively. These latter two projects are particularly important because they are China’s first so-called ‘turnkey projects,’ in which it will provide all segments of the project from design and production to launch and servicing the satellite on-orbit. China naturally has ambitions to become a real player in the lucrative international market, after having been excluded from it in 1999 and only recently reentering, as of April 2005, with the launch of Apstar 6, of APT Satellite Holdings Ltd.

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Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 89 ]