Home » China’s “national pride” domestic passenger aircraft C919 or suffered Waterloo due to US export controls? — Mandarin homepage

China’s “national pride” domestic passenger aircraft C919 or suffered Waterloo due to US export controls? — Mandarin homepage

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China’s first large-scale domestic passenger aircraft, the C919, is expected to be delivered next year as soon as possible after 13 years of research and development. This domestically-made passenger plane, which has received much attention, has not appeared in China’s largest aerospace exhibition. According to media reports, the C919 passenger plane did not appear at this air show because the C919 is facing a shortage of parts due to the tightening of export restrictions on high-tech products in the United States. Some analysts said that from the perspective of domestic and foreign situations, China’s aviation technology research and development process is under pressure.

In the past 13 years, China has made every effort to develop the first domestically-made large passenger aircraft, the C919, and has competed with the French Airbus A320 and the American Boeing 737. However, this domestically-produced passenger plane, which has received much attention, has not been unveiled at the Zhuhai Air Show, China’s largest this year.

Sources quoted by Reuters reported that the C919 passenger plane did not appear at the air show because the United States has tightened export restrictions on high-tech products. The timely help of suppliers and the fact that some spare parts have been used up have caused the C919 passenger plane to face a shortage of parts, and related certification and production targets may be affected.

The fifth test flight of the domestically-made large passenger aircraft C919 will be tested at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in 2019. (Photo by Reuters)

The report pointed out that since December 2020, the US government requires any company “related to the Chinese military” to obtain special permission when exporting parts and providing technical assistance. However, the source pointed out that even if the US suppliers continue to Obtaining the export license, the certification speed of the C919 project has also slowed down, which has the opportunity to threaten the production plan of the passenger aircraft.

Some mainland media pointed out that COMAC has obtained temporary orders for 815 aircraft worldwide, and only China Eastern Airlines has placed a firm order for 5 aircraft. Eastern Airlines said in August this year that it expects to receive its first passenger aircraft by the end of the year, and two more in the next two years. However, due to the impact of US export controls, the outside world is concerned about whether the delivery of C919 can catch up with the timetable.

Reuters also quoted sources as saying that due to the slow progress of the C919, COMAC has focused on test flights and tried to accumulate the minimum flight hours to obtain certification from the Chinese aviation regulatory agency. However, even if the C919 has a chance to be certified by the end of this year, afterwards It also has to go through a series of improvements and upgrades.

Science and technology competition is a sensitive area between China and the United States. China is easily affected by international policies.

Huang Jiezheng, associate professor of the Institute of International Affairs and Strategy of Tamkang University, told this station on Tuesday (28th) that the United States has a certain right to speak in the international certification of aviation, and when China does not have the technology and parts required for the production process, naturally It will be affected by policies, which will put it under pressure on aviation development.

Huang Jiezheng: “The United States holds certain control rights. Of course, it has certain objective standards and is not subject to political control. If the technology and parts needed for manufacturing are not available in China, she may have to rely on imports, and thus suffer. Policy influence. Strategic competition between China and the United States has formed long ago, especially in technology, which tends to favor the Cold War or the so-called decoupling. Basically, all technological competition will have a relatively strong Cold War flavor.”

On October 13, 2020, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, an employee handles part of the C919 aircraft fuselage at the Aerospace Seahawk Special Materials Company.  (AFP)
On October 13, 2020, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, an employee handles part of the C919 aircraft fuselage at the Aerospace Seahawk Special Materials Company. (AFP)

China’s domestic strengths are not in the development of key components or encounter bottlenecks

Zeng Zhichao, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Economic and Financial Association of Taiwan, also stated on Tuesday (28th) that although China is regarded as the world‘s factory, her strength lies in “assembly” rather than “key components” research and development, even if it is the strongest in China. The military aircraft still needs to rely on Russia to provide engines. He also said that the domestic passenger aircraft C919 is regarded as the pride of the Chinese nation and hopes to use this to showcase China’s research and development technology to the world. However, it is reported that the passenger aircraft has not been produced according to the schedule, or that China has encountered bottlenecks in the research and development process.

Zeng Zhichao: “As (China) has to start with key components only now, I believe her, in addition to engines, aircraft radar, navigation, communications, etc. are all very advanced technologies. To be honest (research and development is required) It is not that easy. Of course, Russia has supported her in the past, so she can make a breakthrough in this area, but after all, she still has to be very cautious for such a large aircraft to be able to pass international certification and then achieve commercial results. “

Chinese official media once pointed out that this domestic passenger plane has achieved nearly 60% localization, and strives to achieve 100% localization. However, after reviewing the information, some media have pointed out that the C919 airliner is very dependent on foreign technology, especially in important technologies such as power system, avionics flight control system, fuel system, etc., directly adopting foreign mature products and technologies, or by Manufactured by Sino-foreign joint ventures, while China is mainly responsible for the design of the fuselage, wings, tail, and interior.

Reporter: Zheng Riyao Editor: Hu Lihan Web Editor: Ruizhe

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