President Xi urges independent R&D for aviation engines, gas turbines

President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for acceleration of independent research, development and manufacturing of aircraft engines and gas turbines to make China an aviation industry power. His words came on the heels of the establishment of the Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) Sunday in Beijing. The founding of the firm is a strategic move that will help enhance national power as well as the capacity of the armed forces, Xi said in a written instruction. The move will also benefit the reform of state-owned enterprises and the restructuring of the aviation industry, he continued. Xi encouraged AECC employees to be bold in innovating to make the country an aviation power. The AECC received investment from the State Council, the Beijing Municipal Government, Aviation Industry Corporation of China and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, with a registered capital of 50 billion yuan (around 7.5 billion US dollars). The firm has 96,000 employees. Premier Li Keqiang said in his written instruction that aircraft engines are sophisticated products of the equipment manufacturing industry.Making breakthroughs in this area as soon as possible will have great value for improving China's economic and military power and national strength. Li urged indigenous innovation to make the AECC a world-class aircraft engine company. Vice Premier Ma Kai, who attended the opening ceremony, also stressed indigenous innovation and continued reforms to build the AECC into a modern enterprise full of vitality. He called for personnel training to cultivate scientific and skilled personnel as well as innovators. China will launch at least 100 key projects over the next 15 years to increase the country's technological capability and improve people's livelihoods, according to the 13th Five-Year Plan unveiled earlier this year. Aviation engines and gas turbines were listed among the top 10 of the 100 projects.