TMCnet News
China tycoon announces plans for satellite communication network [China Daily: Hong Kong Edition](China Daily: Hong Kong Edition Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A mysterious Chinese tycoon who plans to dig a second, $40 billion canal linking the Caribbean and the Pacific is spreading his reach into space with ambitions for a network of satellites, reports said Monday. Wang Jing, who won a 50-year concession to build and operate a canal in Nicaragua last year, announced that one of his companies launched a test orbiter last month. The move made Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group the first private firm to invest in China's space industry, which is mostly military-run, Beijing News said. Wang, in his early 40s, ranked 224th on the Forbes' world's billionaires list this year with wealth estimated at $6.1 billion. The satellite, developed with Tsinghua University, was expected to provide a cheaper alternative to foreign satellite communication providers in China's sea and desert areas, Beijing News said, citing Tsinghua Professor Lu Jianhua. Wang said Xinwei planned to develop four more satellites with the university and build a telecommunication "constellation" over the next 10 years, the report said. "The cost of building the satellites with homegrown technology is very low and so we have high expectations on the return on investment in the future," Wang was quoted as saying. He did not disclose the value of the company's investment in the business, but said that "no financial rewards" were expected in the short term. Wang owns more than 30 percent of Beijing-based Xinwei, which was formerly controlled by State-owned Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group, according to Beijing News. In December, another company of his - Beijing Interoceanic Canal Investment Management - announced that with a Ukrainian partner, it would pour a total of $10 billion into building a port, oil reserves and an economic development zone in Crimea. The peninsula has since been annexed by Russia, and Wang's firm said in May that the project had been suspended, according to a report by China Business News. (China Daily 10/28/2014 page5) (c) 2014 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |