There are plans in China to build multiple aerospace theme parks, built by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

The Chinese aerospace and defence company – more accustomed to building fighter jets and rockets capable of flying into space – announced on 19 August that it was planning five to six aerospace parks across China under the brand name “The Big World of Aerospace”, investing CN¥120bn (US$20bn, €15bn, £12bn) across the line of new theme parks, with the first expected to open in 2017 in Yanliang, Shaanxi Province.

Each interactive park will include a combination of space exhibitions, entertainment, tourism aspects, leisure and learning facilities. Initial plans include an aviation museum, aviation technology exhibitions, aircraft design incubators, flight simulators used for astronaut training and aviation-themed hotels offering meals served on flights, as well as those consumed by fighter pilots and astronauts.

The project is part of a government initiative to to upgrade China’s industrial structure to include more cultural and creative industries, also adding to the high number of theme parks currently in development across the country.

More than 60 theme parks are now under development in China with IAAPA CEO and president, Paul Nolan, recently calling the region “the fastest growing market in the world.”

AVIC director Lin Zuoming echoed Nolan’s opinion, stating that China has a growing market for leisure entertainment and that the company is seizing this opportunity.

The theme parks will be used to create a cashflow for further development of China’s aerospace industry and raise public interest across the nation in the science and culture of aerospace.

Following the Yanliang opening, further theme parks are planned at locations including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shaanxi and Sichuan.