(Yicai Global) Nov. 1 -- China plans to build an Earth-Space Economic Zone by the year 2050 to bolster development of the space resource, station and travel sectors and offer paid services worth USD10 trillion a year.

The zone will cover areas of space near Earth, the moon and in between, Science and Technology Daily cited Bao Weimin, director of China Aerospace Science and Technology's sci-tech commission, as saying at a company conference yesterday. CAST is a state-owned company focused on researching, making and launching carrier rockets, satellites, spacecraft and space stations.

Companies involved in basic industries, application exploration and development will feature at the zone, which will focus on three key fields: interspace transport, space resource detection and space-based infrastructure, he added.

China will need to strive to complete its basic research in these fields by 2020, make breakthroughs in key technologies by 2030, and have a robust, low-cost space transport system in place by 2040 in order to make the zone a reality, Bao said.

Editor: James Boynton