Man behind China's 'Dream Come True' boosted balloon programme

China has a long history of fostering civil-military partnerships to make technological advances

Less than a year after starting a company to develop Chinese aircraft engines, a leading aerospace expert and a battered Shanghai property developer launched China’s first high-altitude airship. They called it the “Dream Come True.”

That 2015 partnership between Beihang University Professor Wu Zhe and Shanghai Nanjiang Group Holdings, a firm known for luxury villas and apartment, came under global scrutiny last week. The entity they created — Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology — was among six firms sanctioned by the US for their alleged role in the Chinese military’s balloon program, which the Biden administration says is part of a global