It was positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 17° East of the Greenwich Meridian, on lease to Spacecom.

[1] It spent most of its operational life at 100.5° East,[2] from where it was used to provide fixed satellite services, including broadcasting, audio and data transmission, to Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

[4] It was the maiden flight of the FG-46,[4] and the first Chinese launch since the Apstar 2 failure, which killed a number of villagers in January 1995.

Excessive acceleration during the launch caused a misalignment of the antenna feed horns on the Ku-band transponders, reducing the satellite's coverage area.

It was subsequently moved to a longitude of 17° East, and in January 2010 it began operations for Spacecom, who refer to it as AMOS-5i.