China’s Comac moves ahead with C929 widebody jet amid reports Russia joint venture has fallen apart

Chinese aviation giant says the passenger plane has entered ‘detailed design’ stage, but makes no mention of Russian firm’s involvement
The project has been marred by delays, and Moscow’s aerospace industry has been heavily sanctioned following invasion of Ukraine

China economy

Amanda Lee

Published: 7:00pm, 5 Nov 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

Chinese aerospace giant Comac is pushing ahead with the design of a new widebody passenger jet amid reports that its joint venture with Russia to build the plane has fallen apart.

Addressing an aviation conference in Beijing on Friday, Qi Xuefeng, vice-president of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), said the design of the C929 widebody passenger jet had progressed.

“The C929 aircraft has entered into [the stage of] detailed design. At the same time, we are making efforts in the fields of hybrid, electric, hydrogen and other new energy aircraft to provide more economical, comfortable and environmentally friendly products,” Qi said at the conference organised by the China Air Transport Association (CATA).

He made no mention of Russian involvement in the project.

Cracks appear in US$50 billion Russian-Chinese passenger jet project

There have been media reports suggesting that Russian aerospace and defence company United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has dropped out of a partnership with Comac to develop a widebody passenger jet.

In 2017, the two companies set up a joint venture in Shanghai to focus on building a widebody passenger jet called the CR929.

The project has been marred by delays from the get-go. And Russia’s aerospace industry has been heavily sanctioned by the US and its allies following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

There have not been any official statements from Comac or UAC on the status and future of the joint venture.

There was also no mention of Russian involvement in a Comac announcement in September of the establishment of a laboratory specifically to design the C929.

The laboratory reflects China’s commitment to achieving “technological self-reliance”, speeding up the development of the C929 and enhancing its “independent innovation capabilities” for manufacturing large aircraft, Comac said in a statement on September 28.

How exposed is China’s C919 jet to US sanctions and could they clip its wings?

Comac also makes a narrowbody jet, the C919, and Qi said the development and production of the C919 series would be accelerated, according to a statement published by the CATA on Saturday. The C919 is designed to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

David Yu, chairman of Asia Aviation Valuation Advisors and a professor at New York University Shanghai specialising in aviation financing, said a joint venture was always going to be difficult.

“Both parties are not exactly going to see eye to eye,” Yu said. “The good thing is now they [Comac] are fully in control. But with resources, they’ll need a lot more than before, such as investment and personnel.”

Comac’s C919 began commercial operations in May with China Eastern Airlines after more than 14 years of development. The state-owned company has yet to be able to mass produce the C919 and has said it aims to have an annual output of 150 of the narrowbody aircraft within the next five years.

02:34

Why it took China’s home-grown C919 plane 15 years to start flying passengers

Lin Zhijie, an industry analyst and an expert at Carnoc, a Chinese civil aviation website, said production capacity was also a problem for Boeing and Airbus.

“The current main reasons are supply chain problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These include engines and core components,” Lin said. “For Comac, which is starting from scratch, it may take several years.”

Liu Daxiang, deputy director of the science and technology committee at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, said development of large commercial aircraft played an important role in the country’s economy and defence capacity.

“Large aircraft are a strategic product of a country, and hi-tech is an important symbol of a country’s strength. If we don’t build these, we won’t be able to drive the development of many other key technologies,” Liu said in an interview with Henan Broadcasting System last week.

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong told state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday that hi-tech manufacturing had added value to China’s industrial structure this year.

“At present, China’s industrial economy is still in a critical period of restoring growth and transformation and upgrading. Opportunities and challenges coexist,” Jin said.