China’s Aviation Industry: Past, Present, and Future

Shen Pin-Luen

China’s aviation industry has been plagued by problems of inefficiency, redundant leadership, and overlapping organizational and bureaucratic struc­tures. In a closed system that had a planned economy and prioritized military development, such problems would not create much of an impact. But along with the inception of reform and opening-up and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) modernization, problems in China’s outdated aviation industry began to surface, prompting the People’s Republic of China (PRC) leadership to ini­tiate a series of reforms. In January 2006, the PRC State Council released the National Guideline on Medium and Long-term Program for Science and Tech­nology Development (2006-2020), which listed the development of large air­craft as a key national science and technology project.1 In May 2008, China established the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), and in November 2008, China merged China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) and China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II) to found China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). This overhaul of the aviation sector is an indication that the pace of development and reform in China’s avi­ation industry is picking up. Therefore, China’s determination and injection of resources into the industry should not be underestimated by the outside world.

Due to the complexity of the development of China’s aviation industry and China’s tight control, most of the public information about the sector is general in nature and gives only an overview and the objectives of the industry. Truly useful analysis and documentation are rare. Therefore, this article seeks to provide a relatively objective and comprehensive analysis of the issue based on available information and personal observations.