China’s rocket boom turns Hainan into a space hub. Can launches fuel wider growth?

As technological developments augur an era of renewed space exploration, China is aiming to become a major player. In the first part of this two-part series, Wency Chen and Mia Nurmamat examine how Hainan province is betting on a growing aerospace cluster to rewrite its economic playbook beyond tourism.
On Hainan’s northeastern coast, launch towers rise abruptly from a flat landscape of coconut palms and open sky. At Pad 1 of the commercial spaceport in Wenchang, an 83-metre (272 feet) service...