China eyes home-grown aircraft engine, larger commercial planes with big equipment upgrades by 2027

China expects to make progress on an advanced aeroplane engine, a bigger commercial jet, and an amphibious search-and-rescue aircraft under a government plan to upgrade production equipment across industries through 2027 and improve the economy. A notice from seven central government departments calls for “promoting the aviation industry to comprehensively develop final assembly-integration capabilities and supply-chain-supporting capabilities for a large aircraft, a large amphibious aircraft, and an engine”. The March 27 notice calls for “updates and upgrades of high-end, advanced equipment” to reach those goals. China is working on its first home-grown turbofan commercial aircraft engine, the CJ1000, to reduce reliance on imports. The CJ1000’s developer, the Aero Engine Corporation of China, had expected to receive an airworthiness certification by 2025, but research reports have indicated that mechanical setbacks and a lack of experience in testing and assembly have held back development. “China definitely feels the urgency to develop its own aircraft engines,” said Liang Yan, chair of economics at US-based Willamette University, pointing to efforts by former US president Donald Trump to block exports of an American engine type to China. “With the new industrial policy and plan to boost new productive forces, I think various advanced manufacturing will accelerate and help aircraft,” Liang said. The C919 narrowbody airliner developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) still depends on foreign components, including for its engine produced by a joint venture between GE Aerospace of the US and France’s Safran Aircraft Engines.<br/>