Bloomberg reported on September 24 that China Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC) has cut the annual delivery target for the C919 from about 75 to 25, a reduction of two-thirds. This figure reflects the severe challenges facing China's aviation industry. Obviously, on May 27, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary export restriction to companies such as General Electric and Honeywell, suspending the supply of six key components required for the C919 project, including the LEAP-1C engine and flight control systems. For the C919, this is almost like a "cardiac arrest" strike.

COMAC's four production lines in Shanghai quickly entered a "semi-shutdown" state, with inventory parts only able to last until mid-June. Faced with this sudden change, the annual delivery target for the C919 was forced to be significantly reduced from 75 to 25. The LEAP-1C engine, the "heart" of the C919, has high technical barriers and is difficult to replace. The U.S. set strict restrictions in cooperation, not only blocking core control algorithms but also stipulating that the engine can only be used for the C919 project, attempting to tightly lock down the development space of China's aviation industry.

However, the United States underestimated the strategic reserves and adaptability of China's aviation industry. Less than 24 hours after the ban was announced, China showcased a major breakthrough in its independently developed Changjiang-1000A engine to the world. Since the start of the C919 project in 2008, China has simultaneously launched the research and development of the Changjiang-1000A. It completed the assembly of the first prototype in 2017, achieved test bench ignition in 2018, conducted high-altitude testing via the Y-20 transport aircraft in 2023, and by 2025, it was capable of direct verification flights on the C919.

The technical specifications of the Changjiang-1000A are impressive: a thrust of 14.5 tons, surpassing the LEAP-1C, with a 12% improvement in fuel efficiency, saving 3 million yuan in fuel costs per one-way trip on the Beijing-Shanghai route. Its core technological breakthrough lies in the revolutionary turbine blade design—each blade, the size of a business card, is densely packed with 362 precision microholes, using an innovative honeycomb cooling channel to ensure uniform heat dissipation at 1600°C. However, completely replacing the LEAP-1C engine will still take some time, inevitably affecting the production schedule of the C919.

Nevertheless, China's breakthrough in the aviation industry is not limited to engines. In the critical field of aviation tires, China has also made a breakthrough from scratch. Previously, 98% of China's civil aviation tire market depended on imports, with international giants such as Michelin, Bridgestone, and Goodyear occupying 90% of the global market share. In April 2025, Guilin Lan Yu Aviation Tire Development Co., Ltd. received the CTSA approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China's Central South Administration, officially becoming a qualified supplier for the C919. In May of the same year, the first C919 equipped with domestically produced tires was delivered to Eastern Airlines, marking that the "foot safety" of China's large domestically produced aircraft has become independently controllable.

At the same time, the domestic avionics system has also made significant progress. The "Tianmai No. 3" avionics system developed by the Xi'an Aeronautical Computing Institute completed a 2000-hour verification on the ARJ21 aircraft, and plans to replace foreign products in the fourth quarter of 2025. Obviously, this has also laid the foundation for the replacement of the corresponding avionics system of the C919. However, we still need more time to complete our domestic substitution.

Facing the U.S. bullying, we do have corresponding alternative measures, as well as corresponding countermeasures. China has been negotiating with Russia to introduce the PD-14 engine as a "dual-engine backup" to secure short-term supply for the C919. At the same time, the China-Russia joint airworthiness working group has completed 23 standard对接, opening up a "green channel" for the C919 to enter the Russian market. China has also used rare earth export controls as a countermeasure. China controls 90% of the global rare earth refining capacity, and each F-35 fighter jet produced by the U.S. requires 920 kg of Chinese rare earth. This countermeasure has placed great pressure on U.S. defense enterprises.

In addition to carrying out comprehensive domestic substitution, in the short term, corresponding countermeasures against the U.S. can also force the U.S. to lift restrictions in the large aircraft sector. As of September 2025, the C919 has accumulated orders exceeding 1,500, covering several major domestic airlines such as Eastern Airlines, Southern Airlines, and Air China. If the U.S. restrictions cannot be effectively resolved, it will inevitably affect the production of the C919 in the short term. At the same time, it will certainly accelerate our domestic substitution efforts. In the short term, it may suppress the production speed of the C919, but in the long run, the U.S. approach will certainly accelerate the self-reliance of COMAC.

It can be said that the domestic content rate of the C919 is steadily increasing. The initial domestic content rate of the C919 was approximately 60%, and with continuous breakthroughs in key areas such as tires, composite materials, and avionics systems, the overall domestic content rate is steadily moving towards 80%. History is surprisingly similar: U.S. restrictions on GPS gave birth to the Beidou system, chip blockades accelerated the breakthrough of domestic lithography machines, and now the engine supply disruption has led to the rise of the Changjiang-1000A. When the C919 becomes fully domestically produced, the global aviation market will officially usher in a new tripartite structure of Boeing, Airbus, and COMAC.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7553675949003358756/

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