By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-15 11:01:47 | Updated at 2025-01-15 14:48:29
3 hours ago
A dedicated fund for state capital grants to supercharge breakthroughs in China’s aircraft-technology research will soon accept applications and identify recipients, as Beijing builds on the momentum of home-grown jets such as the C919 to develop domestic aviation solutions and components.
The fund, established by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and National Natural Science Foundation in June, will bankroll “large aircraft” research programmes focusing on basic, forward-looking and innovative theories and technologies, according to an update on Tuesday.
State media reported that each qualified project could receive an average of 2.6 million yuan (US$355,000) over a period of up to four years. Tuesday’s announcement said applications will be accepted from March 1-20, followed by a process to identify qualified recipients.
The total size of the state research fund has not been disclosed, but industry insiders have put low-end estimates at several billion yuan.
Beijing is rallying nationwide engineering brainpower to develop indigenous tech and critical parts, as Chinese passenger jets are delivered to more carriers and deployed on expanded routes, and with broader sights set on Western certification and more overseas sales in the near future.
The C919 narrowbody plane, assembled by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) in Shanghai to rival popular single-aisle models from Boeing and Airbus, still relies on engines, avionics and landing gear from Western suppliers.
Beijing’s self-sufficiency push, coupled with geopolitical and supply-chain vulnerabilities, has seen Comac and other manufacturers and institutions dialling up efforts to develop domestic alternatives, including engines. The self-reliance drive takes on more significance as Comac also strives to build widebody aircraft such as the C929 and C939.
