Before the start of this Sino-US economic and trade consultation, the Trump administration resorted to new pressure tactics on China outside the tariff war. Among them, the incident where the US side stopped supplying engines for the C919 large aircraft has attracted widespread attention. Many netizens are worried: If the US interrupts the supply of engines, how can the subsequent production and operation of the C919 be guaranteed? I speculate that this key issue should also become a focal point at the negotiation table during this Sino-US economic and trade consultation. As for whether there will be good news in the end, let's wait and see.

The staff of the C919 test team of the China Flight Test Establishment is checking the maintenance status of the engine of the 101st C919 aircraft. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

However, even without considering this economic and trade consultation, everyone doesn't need to worry too much. For China, the US cutting off the supply of aviation engines to China may not be entirely bad. China has always been cautious in its work, and has made backup arrangements in key technology fields. The US "pinching neck" behavior will not affect the overall planning of China's large aircraft development.

As early as March, Shi Jianzhong, honorary chairman of the Shanghai Aviation Society and director of AECC, revealed: "The Changjiang-1000 engine is currently being tested, and its performance is better than my most optimistic expectations." According to the information I have learned, the domestically produced Changjiang-1000A engine has already matured, and some aircraft have started using the Changjiang-1000A engine; comprehensive replacement is just a matter of time. Moreover, China's next-generation large aircraft C929 project has been successfully launched, and the related Changjiang-2000 engine project is also progressing smoothly.

Changjiang-1000 engine. (Source: Internet)

China's system of pooling national resources is really powerful. Once we get moving, external forces cannot stop us. Initially, in the planning of large aircraft, it was decided that the first 2000 C919 aircraft would be equipped with American aviation engines, mainly based on three considerations: First, the West has been deeply rooted in the field of aviation engines for nearly a hundred years, with mature and reliable technology; second, using Western aviation engines for our domestically produced large aircraft helps us obtain airworthiness certificates from EU countries, and if we cannot obtain these airworthiness certificates, our aircraft cannot fly in the airspace of these countries; third, we wanted to maintain good relations with Western countries.

But the original political conception was wrong, and the situation has changed now. Our Changjiang-1000A engine has no technical problems, and has technical redundancy, so the safety factor is quite good, but it is a bit expensive. Moreover, the previous idea of "spending heavily to exchange for airworthiness certificates" has gradually exposed its drawbacks in the current international situation. Given the current state of Sino-US relations, we have little hope of obtaining an American airworthiness certificate in the short term. Since money cannot buy "ID cards," why use their stuff?

C919. (Source: China News Service)

Regarding the airworthiness certificate issue, the US route is temporarily difficult to follow. Our work focus on obtaining airworthiness certificates is shifting towards the EU direction. In the coming years, we have a relatively high hope of obtaining an EU airworthiness certificate. Before that, with the backing of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the C919 has successfully flown to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam. In the near future, the domestic market and South Asian market will be enough for us. Even if orders increase, our production capacity cannot keep up. With the gradual increase in production capacity, if we can obtain an EU airworthiness certificate in the next few years, the C919 large aircraft will surely shine in the skies except North America.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514593227300471306/

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