Why is China important?
Realising the
commercial and manufacturing opportunities presented by the growth in air
travel, not least in China,
the central government has pledged massive support to the development of its
domestic aerospace industry in order to reduce reliance on overseas suppliers. The
creation of COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) is a
ground-breaking move for the country and is behind the surge of investment in
civil aviation.
All facets of the process, from design and production to sourcing materials and
assembly will be done in China.
Overseas participation in this development programme is encouraged as witnessed
by the 20+ foreign firms partnering on the ARJ-21 and recent announcements of
the selection of international suppliers to develop hydraulics, fuel systems,
auxiliary power units and flight control systems for the C919. A number of suppliers have already positioned
themselves for future sales growth in China through a strategy of technology
transfer, investment in research, manufacturing, assembly, service/support facilities
and personnel training.
With first deliveries
of the ARJ-21 regional jet planned for the end of 2010 and the C919 forecast to
be commercially available in 2016, CAATS 2011 is the ideal forum for
international technology suppliers to demonstrate their expertise and
commitment to the Chinese market by promoting their products and services
directly to the key buyers and specifiers. Exhibitors will be well placed to
win orders for these and other progammes not only in China and the region, but
potentially worldwide.
Alongside the ‘big
ticket’ commercial airline projects highlighted above, China is also forecast
to experience rapid growth in demand for business aviation services which in
turn will drive demand for business jets and helicopters. Again this trend is
generating significant interest from the Chinese authorities and the business
community as they assess the manufacturing and commercial opportunities this trend
may yield.
Market highlights:
- Over the next 20 years, Boeing
expects China
to spend US$400 billion to purchase nearly 3,800 planes.
- Airbus predict that China will account for 20% of the company’s
revenues in 2010 with Airbus China President Laurence Barron commenting that China “probably
has the most potential of any significant market in the world.”
- China’s aviation’s market is
already the largest in the Asia-Pacific region with an aircraft fleet more than
double that of Japan
(2nd largest). The Asia-Pacific region is now the largest aviation
market in the world surpassing that of North America.
- China is anticipated to become the 2nd largest aviation market in its
own right within the next 20 years.
- In 2009, airport passenger
throughputs in mainland China rose by nearly 20% over 2008 to reach 486 million
and this is forecast to rise to 540 million person trips in 2010.
- China will add 8 new airports in 2010
and 70 over the next decade to meet the predicted growth of 11.4% p.a. in
passenger traffic. Freight traffic is anticipated to grow by 14% p.a. over the
same period.
- China is estimated to require up to 1,000 medium sized jets over the next 20
years.
The
number of general aircraft manufacturers and developers in China is
growing in response to reforms of the civil aviation policy. It is estimated
that by 2025 one third of the world’s aircraft will be developed and
manufactured in China.
