Aerospace and new energy auto industries take off

Updated: 2014-09-26 15:16

By Li Yu and Peng Chao in Chengdu(China Daily)

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One of the fastest growing cities in China, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, has strived to develop emerging industries and further boost its economy.

The move echoes China's national strategy to develop strategic emerging industries.

Chengdu's GDP increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, to 484 billion yuan ($79 billion), and is expected to break one trillion yuan for the whole year.

The added value of the city's high-tech industries above a designated scale rose by 16.8 percent in the first six months of this year. This was 4.8 percent higher than the above-scale industrial added value.

The aerospace industry is one of the most promising emerging industries in Chengdu.

The nose of the first C919, the nation's first domestically designed large passenger jetliner, was assembled in Chengdu in July this year, at AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co Ltd.

The C919 is one of the country's major efforts to enter the global passenger aircraft market.

The plane can seat up to 180 people and has a flying range of up to 5,555 kilometers.

The communication and navigation systems for the C919 are also being researched and developed in Chengdu.

A joint venture of China Electronics Technology Avionics Co Ltd and US firm Rockwell Collins, is expected to deliver the first batch of 'made in Chengdu' products to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) next year.

Final assembly of the C919 is expected to start in the latter half of this year.

'Chengdu is blessed with advantages in developing the aerospace industry. The central government has set up a number of leading aerospace companies and scientific research institutions in Sichuan province, most of which are located in Chengdu,' said an official at the city's economic and information commission.

AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co Ltd, one of China's main bases for developing and manufacturing fighter aircraft, designed and produced many kinds of aerial vehicle.

The company cooperates with a number of world famous aviation enterprises. It supplies aircraft parts to both domestic and foreign aircraft manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus.

AVIC Chengdu Engine (Group) Co Ltd was established in 1958 and is one of China's major research and manufacturing bases for aircraft engines.

The company has strategic cooperation with the world's leading aircraft engine makers including GE, Pratt Whitney Group and Rolls-Royce holdings plc.

The Ministry of Commerce approved Sichuan Snecma Aero-engine Maintenance Co Ltd (SSAMC) to start a maintenance service for aircraft engines at the Chengdu High-Tech Comprehensive Bonded Zone.

The program plans to have annual capacity to repair 600 engines, the largest scale in Asia and fifth in the world, which would make Chengdu one of the world's most competitive aircraft engine maintenance bases.

According to the city's plans, Chengdu will build itself into a major aerospace industrial base, with a complete industrial chain featuring manufacturing programs of aircrafts, aircraft parts, business jets, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft engines and aircraft and aircraft engine maintenance services.

The industry is expected to generate annual sales revenues of 50 billion yuan by 2017.

New energy

New energy automobile manufacturing is another driving force for the economic development of Chengdu, which is the largest car consumption market in western China.

Sichuan Auto Industry Co Ltd, an automobile manufacturer based in Chengdu, built a new energy automobile production base with an annual capacity to produce 120,000 new energy cars in Mianyang, Sichuan province.

It is the largest new energy automobile production base in the country.

The company's newly designed pure electric car C30 appeared at the Chengdu Motor Show in late August.

Mass production of the car is due to begin by the end of next year, according to Cao Guodong, deputy general manager of the company's new energy automobile branch.

Sichuan Auto Industry will launch a pure electric SUV in the latter half of this year to explore the market, Cao said.

Li Shufu, chairman of Volvo Cars and its owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd, said Volvo Cars planed to produce new energy vehicles in its Chengdu base, at the Sichuan Automobile Industry Development and Investment Forum in late August.

Chengdu is home to 24 new energy automobile manufactures. To date, the city has put into use 1,000 new energy vehicles including buses, official cars and taxis.

The city has also carried out plans to develop other emerging industries, such as next generation information technology, bio-pharmaceuticals, new materials and high-end equipment manufacturing.

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