Beijing Review: Can China make jumbo jets by itself in terms of technology?

Li: China’s aviation industry has grown up against a suppression and technology blockade by foreign countries. Such a disadvantaged situation forced China to make a decision to develop an aviation industry on its own. Through years of development China has built up an integrated military aviation industrial system.

Experiences show that a country needs to focus on both military and civil aviation applications to maintain and develop its aviation development capacity. From an international perspective, the proportion of military aviation products to civil ones is 4 to 6 for the United States and 3 to 7 for Europe. Technically, military and civil aircraft share 70 percent of their aviation technology. China has already shaped an integrated military aircraft industrial system, which is quite conducive to the development of civil jumbo jets.

Back in the 1970s, China had already made its first large aircraft, which included it among the few countries that had such a jumbo jet manufacturing capability. China’s aviation R&D capacity was greatly strengthened with an enlarging technical talent bank and a better research and experiment infrastructure. Over the past 50 years, China has manufactured and put in use hundreds of medium- and large-sized air transporters. Currently, China is developing ARJ-21 aircraft, a regional airplane. In my opinion, it’s not a problem for China to manufacture jumbo jets but the point is whether they can be competitive in the market.

What are the technology gaps between China’s jumbo jets and their foreign counterparts like Boeing and Airbus?

Ren: There’s a big technology gap between China and Boeing and Airbus in jumbo jet manufacturing. We can say that China has made many breakthroughs in local techniques and some of them are in mature use. But still a considerable number of techniques need to be tested. Now what China lacks most is the experience in overall project development. Besides, it’s a trend that jumbo jets are made of composite materials, which are light, durable and reliable. The application of composite material techniques covers 50 percent of the Boeing 787 aircraft. It poses a big difficulty for self-developed jumbo jets in China as how to utilize composite materials to increase structure efficiency and reduce costs.

A new material or a new structure, before being applied to make the jet, needs to go through many experiments and tests to ensure its safety and reliability. Boeing and Airbus have accumulated much experience in these techniques, examination and verification, which, however, is China’s weak point.

Li: Boeing and Airbus exceed China in their project engineering experience. They have a vast database of all kinds of plane parts. They are made according to certain criteria and specifications, which makes it easier for the plane designers to work. China has made some progress in this regard but is still far behind Boeing and Airbus.

What do you think of the “Chinese heart,” the self-developed engine which propels the jet?

Li: Jumbo jets have a very high standard and requirement for their engines, which have to work at high temperatures and speeds and should be inexpensive in manufacturing costs. So far jumbo engine technology is mainly in the hands of the three international engine makers: GE, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.

Engine making inarguably is the weak point for China’s aviation industry though it has made some progress in manufacturing plane engines. China’s self-made engines will find it hard to go through the tests in a short time, let alone be put into practical application. In this sense, in the primary phase China’s jumbo jets will employ foreign-produced plane engines.