Chinese Aviation Industry

China seeks to promote the development of its biofuels industry through a series of supportive measures despite mass production difficulties. A spokesperson for the National Energy Bureau said that the Chinese government has set a goal of utilizing five million tons of ethanol fuel during the "12th Five-Year" period spanning 2011 to 2015, nearly double that set for the prior period (2006-2010).

While biofuel technology is already becoming increasingly sophisticated across the country, a lack of raw materials is restricting large-scale commercial application.

Biofuels are not only an alternative to petroleum but also a catalyst of economic growth. “The biofuels industry is an integrated system that can drive the development of a variety of other industries, including agriculture, chemicals, plastics, automotive, power generation, transportation and services while helping boost domestic demand, ” said Li Shizhong, deputy director at New Energy Research Center, Nuclear Research Institute, Tsinghua University. “Unlike other industries, biofuels help maintain social stability by addressing a number of agriculture-related issues, including increasing farmers’ income and creating jobs for millions of farmers.”

Li Shizhong also said that the Chinese government will give priority to the development of biofuels as an alternative to petroleum, which is part of its national energy development strategy, and take a number of measures to support the development of the biofuels industry.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance issued a plan for the comprehensive utilization of crop stalks for the 12th Five-Year period to promote the industrialization of cellulosic ethanol and increase stalk utilization to 30 percent. Industry analysts said that the policy has provided new opportunities for the development of the Chinese non-food fuel ethanol sector.

In 2011, imported petroleum accounted for over 55 percent of China’s total petroleum consumption. With the continued rise in international oil prices, the market for petroleum imports has faced many uncertainties due to the nuclear crisis in Iran and increased air pollution caused by exhaust emissions that harms human health. A 660-square meter sweet sorghum field is capable of producing about one ton of ethanol, while automobiles powered by biofuels reduce CO2 emissions by over 30 percent, added Li.

However, the mass production of sweet sorghum stalks, which are one of the principal raw materials of fuel ethanol, is difficult due to the lack of a comprehensive system for the collection, storage and transportation of the material. A series of supportive policies relating to the prices of non-food biofuels, tax discounts and fiscal subsidies are under consideration.

Li Shizhong suggested the government develop a roadmap for the biofuels industry based on technologies and economic feasibility: the production of first generation biofuels should be restricted, while the production of 1.5-generation and the development of second generation - cellulose ethanol - should be encouraged and accelerated. He also suggested the government expand the production of biofuels with production bases in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, two regions with substantial sunshine and heat resources suitable for the planting of sweet sorghum, as well as in the Bohai Rim Region, where a five million-ton fuel ethanol production base can be built in the region’s large saline areas.

Based on available information, a demonstration project using the ASSF ethanol technology developed by Tsinghua University has been established in Inner Mongolia.

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Lion said:

Are you sure about that sentence? Don't talk rot. Oversupply of funds? CCP always has strict control of funds for all project and frugal about overspending. Frugal and cost saving are always the protocol drill in their workforce culture. Look at the space project and see how much their budget compare to NASA.

If your sentence is right, PLA by now has already dump all Type-59 tank and deploy thousands Typ99A2 and project like Type96G will never exist.

There is reason why China product is the best value for money which many countries can't match. Their way of cost saving sometime is very efficient compare to others. The 3 trillion foreign reserve will never exist if overspending is in CCP culture.

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There is reason why China product is the best value for money which many countries can't match. Their way of cost saving sometime is very efficient compare to others. The 3 trillion foreign reserve will never exist if overspending is in CCP culture.

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China will need about 500 helicopters by the end of 2015, according to Eurocopter on June 18, reported by The Economic Observer. It is anticipated that China will need more than 1,000 helicopters over the next decade as the nation deregulates and opens its low-altitude airspace.

The Eurocopter Group now is a wholly owned subsidiary of European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co. (EADS) and is the world's largest helicopter maker. Airbus S.A.S., another big aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, is also one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers.

In 2011, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world's number one helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of EUR5.4 billion, 457 new orders and a 43 percent market share in the civil and paramilitary markets.

The turnover of Eurocopter China in 2011 reached EUR58 million, surging 70% on a year-on-year basis. It won EUR300 million worth of orders in China last year, capturing 40% of the Chinese market share.

Jiang Delong, Sales Director for Asia-Pacific Region of Eurocopter, claims that with the gradual opening of China's the low-altitude airspace, China's appetite for helicopters will grow rapidly.

It is estimated by relevant professional institution that there are more than 150,000 potential users of private aircraft in China. Private aircraft mainly consist of business aircraft and helicopters. According to conservative estimations, helicopters possess about 20% of all private aircraft. The potential users of private helicopters in the country currently add up to 30,000.

If 10% of potential users were to buy helicopters, the sales of private helicopters would reach 3 thousand, the above-mentioned institution predicted. China is expected to overtake the United States as the world's largest private aircraft market 10 years from now. China Aviation Industrial Helicopter Co., Ltd. (Avicopter) once forecasted that the year of 2012 marks the beginning of China's prospering private aircraft business. There will be a market upsurge in China's private aviation industry.

The reason for the market upsurge in China's helicopter market is that the government is opening and deregulating low-altitude airspace step by step. In 2010, the State Council and the Central Military Commission released and distributed the "Opinions of the State Council and the Central Military Commission on Deepening the Reform of China's Low-altitude Airspace Management," pointing out for the first time that the opening and deregulating of low-altitude airspace will be promoted and carried out in three stages as experimenting, implementing, and deepening in the coming decade in step-by-step progress.

According to the "Opinions," by the year of 2015, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, and Chengdu will be selected as trial areas for implementing the low-altitude airspace reforms. Besides, the trial job on integrated reforms of general aviation will be conducted in the central south China region and the northeast China region.

Li Jiaxiang, head of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), also points out that the government will also expand the experimenting of opening and deregulating airspace below 3,000 meters, seeking to achieve a full and comprehensive opening by the year of 2015.

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Vini_Vidi_Vici said:

This is the biggest joke I've ever heard. CCP = frugal? Chinese government organs and departments can always get the money they want, but they often waste it on random stuff. Look at those mega projects, none of them ever get halted due to fund shortages. You never hear any fund shortage problem in China, ever! The only time you hear of them are small projects in poor backwards western cities.

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In the past decades, China is surprising the whole world everyday, not only with the explosion of economy, but also the speed of explosion. However, in this country, there is a market that has a more startling development - the China Civil Aviation Industry.

Why is China said to be "a future global leader for air transport"? How could China need so many aircraft? What happened there? What is going on now? What is next? To understand the development of the civil aviation industry in China, a time line and two reforms should be introduced. The following parts will provide a clear description of China Aviation Market, since 1949 to 2012. Figure 1 illustrates the major international and domestic flight routes present in China...

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In Part One of "The Civil Aviation Industry in China: 1949-2012", the author gave an overview of China aviation market and the history of aviation in China, and also analyzed the nation's air passenger traffic and freight traffic during the research period. In Part Two, the author will discuss about Chinese airlines, aircraft fleet, flight routes, infrastructure, safety records, obtains & feedbacks, as well as current regulations...

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Vini_Vidi_Vici said:

This is the biggest joke I've ever heard. CCP = frugal? Chinese government organs and departments can always get the money they want, but they often waste it on random stuff. Look at those mega projects, none of them ever get halted due to fund shortages. You never hear any fund shortage problem in China, ever! The only time you hear of them are small projects in poor backwards western cities.

For example, vehicles for government officials alone, consume a hundred billion (rather a conservative estimate) US dollars every year. On top of that, banquets and dinners paid by government funds waste a lot of program funds (the Chinese friends in this forum understand what I'm talking about). We all know China has one of the worst corruption problems in the world. I don't want to be a country basher or criticizing China of anything, but rather just pointing out a fact.

All I'm saying is that funds could be better managed in China, even without corruption, they could be used more efficiently towards the projects.

In terms of your tanks analogy, haven't you ever heard of a saying on Chinese nets? It's said that the amount of corruption and wasting in China could let the PLAN buy an aircraft carrier, every day.



Please use a better example. Chinese products being cheapest doesn't mean anything, but rather just low labor costs. Due to the constant rise in labor costs in China, we already observe change in country of origins for a lot of cheap goods. If you look at your underwear and T-shirts, most of come from either Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, or Bangladesh.

China is losing its competitiveness in cheap labors. It now has to compete in the more technical sectors, where the Western companies have occupied for decades. This is a good thing. Making cheap stuff never gets you anywhere. True superpowers rely on high tech and heavy industries. Cheap low end goods can only redistribute the wealth within a nation, like the service sector. It can barely create any worthy wealth.

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On June 13, 2012, the Large Passenger Aircraft C919 Flight Test Coordination Meeting was held in the flight test center of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). At the meeting, representatives from flight test center and design & research center of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (CAMOC) and AVIC flight test center signed a Technical Agreement on 2012 Flight Test Cooperation.

The agreement specifies the C919 flight test plan in 13 different aspects, including the overall flight test plan, flight test project, flight test organization and management, comprehensive support programs, and so on. Wu Guanghui, deputy general manager of CAMOC and chief architect of C919, attended the meeting.

At the meeting, Wu asked all parties to treat the flight test as a national mission and cooperate closely to take China's large aircraft to the sky as soon as possible. Ye Musheng, director of AVIC strategic planning department, hoped that AVIC and CAMOC will strengthen cooperation and enhance communication to complete C919 aircraft flight test with high quality and efficiency.

Subsequently, Wu took a 90 minutes test flight on the ARJ21 flew by chief test pilot Zhao Peng and test pilot Zhao Mingyu. After the plane landed, Wu expressed the excitement to get on the home-made regional aircraft, and hoped that the flight test center and CAMOC to strengthen cooperation with the CAAC to promote the ARJ21-700 aircraft delivery as soon as possible.

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On Jun. 18, AVIC International Holding Corporation (AVIC International) and Xi'an Aircraft International Corporation (XAIC) held a grand ceremony to officially deliver the first Modern Ark 60 aircraft (MA60) to Air Burundi. This delivery enables MA60 to soar over the broader regions of the African continent besides Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Republic of Congo...

Mr. Jiang Jianjun, general manager of XAIC, addressed at the ceremony that, AVIC International is an important cooperative partner of XAIC to explore the civil aircraft market. It is hoped that this delivery of the first MA60 will further prove and demonstrate MA60's advantages such as comfort, reliability and fuel efficiency by Air Burundi. Known for its fidelity and integrity, XAIC is committed to continuously providing high quality aircraft as well as hospitable and considerate services and bringing value and advantages to its customers with persistent efforts.

Mr. Melchior Nahimana, managing director of Air Burundi, also made a speech at the ceremony. He thanked the Chinese government and the Burundi government who have given substantial supports to the introduction of MA60. The delivery of the first MA60 ordered by Air Burundi has been going smoothly. Bujumbura International Airport of Burundi is enthusiastic about the arrival of MA60 on Jun. 28.

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Deino said:

Again me .... can anyone give a brief summary of the current status for the WP-14 "Kunlun" ... seems IMO as if all latest J-7G and J-8-versions are still flying with the WP-13F (J-7G) or WP-13B or BII (J-8H/F) versions ??

Deino

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