And there’s a misunderstanding that needs to be corrected, which defines a self-made jumbo jet as a plane that must have a self-made engine. Actually, a self-developed plane is for the large part decided by its overall design. Take the Boeing 787 as an example. Only 35 percent of the plane is contributed by the Boeing Company and the rest is through global cooperation and global purchasing. The engine of the Boeing 787 can be decided by the buyers, who can choose engines produced by other engine manufacturers. But the Boeing 787 is still considered as a Boeing-made product.

Ren: China has made many technical breakthroughs in engine manufacturing and it takes a lot of work to examine and test before it can be put into application. It takes many new materials to make an engine and new materials develop quite fast. Therefore, it’s a very difficult process to test and verify materials and techniques.

Many experts insist that China should seek international cooperation in building its jumbo jets, as a more efficient and lower-cost way of producing the plane. How do you see that?

Li: Actually no country can make a plane all by itself. Thirty-five percent of a Boeing 787 has been contributed by several Japanese manufacturers, including the main body. In this regard, China should think deeper about its self-help spirit and international cooperation. In my opinion, cooperation should be encouraged.

Nevertheless, we can’t expect to obtain key technology from foreign companies through cooperation, although we should be aiming at borrowing experience and absorbing complementary advantages. International cooperation is expected to boost the competitiveness of the product and achieve a win-win result. For instance, Airbus is formed by four countries including France, Britain, Germany and Spain. Britain has been manufacturing the wings of aircraft for Airbus and after 30 years the technology still remains in the hands of Britain.

What are the problems that need to be resolved in self-produced Chinese jumbo jets?

Ren: In my opinion priority should be given to resource integration, which has already been given much attention from the State Council, which has decided to establish a jumbo jet corporation in the hope of boosting the overall management of its research, design, experiment, manufacturing and sales. Only in this way can the jumbo jet project be smoothly carried out and can it react to market demand more actively.

Li: Another problem facing China is the shortage of talent. The shortage of designers is a case in point. There are no more than 3,000 plane designers for large military and civil aircraft, while in the West the A380 alone needs 5,000 to 6,000 designers.

Jumbo jets are so complicated on the whole that a single technical breakthrough won’t make much change. Besides the lack of experience in experiments and tests, after-sales service is a big matter as well. Without good after-sales service, the jumbo jet, even if it has been manufactured, will be hard to keep in normal operation. In the long run, the core competition in the international aviation market is about after-sales service.

Source from http://www.avic1.com.cn/

Brief History of China’s Aviation Industry

Before 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was founded, China had a very weak aviation foundation. Between 1910, when the government of the Qing Dynasty set up a plane factory, and 1949, there were just dozens of poor-equipped facilities that assembled and repaired a small number of airplanes. All of their raw materials, finished products and equipment were from foreign countries.

The country’s real aviation industry was established in the 1950s. At Xi’an, Shanghai, Shenyang and Chengdu, respectively, there are four large airplane manufacturing bases, capable of producing civilian and military aircraft.

On April 17, 1951, the Central Military Commission promulgated a resolution on building an aviation industry. Subsequently China’s aviation industry has developed from repair and maintenance work, to manufacturing modeled on existing plane types and to building China-designed planes.

Since 1978 when China began its unprecedented reform and opening-up period, the aviation industry has entered a new era, forming an integrated system consisting of research and production. China has designed and built upwards of 60 types of fighter planes, bombers, helicopters, transport aircraft and trainers, totaling more than 10,000 planes. In recent years, the industry has begun developing an increasing number of civil aviation products.