China floats aero-engine giant to take on US GE, UK’s Rolls Royce
30 Aug 2016 10:53 PM GMT
The Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) has registered capital of 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion), and previous reports said it would incorporate subsidiaries of a series of state-owned firms, including the Aviation Industrial Corp. of China (AVIC).
President Xi Jinping said founding the company was a “strategic move” to make China an aviation power and modernise the military, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. China does not make large commercial jet engines of its own and the country’s narrow-body airliner, the C919, is powered by engines from CFM International, a venture between GE of the United States and France’s Safran.
The best aircraft in China’s air force use engines built in Russia, Xinhua said. Beijing is looking to change that with the creation of a new national champion in the field as it seeks the prestige of having its own aviation sector.
Leaders have targeted the manufacture of high-technology products such as jet engines as a means to transform the world’s second largest economy and make its firms more competitive with advanced foreign rivals in aerospace, biotechnology, alternative energy and other sectors.
Premier Li Keqiang said in written comments that making “breakthroughs” in advanced aircraft engines would have great value in strengthening the military and manufacturing ability of the country. Xinhua cited him urging indigenous innovation to make AECC a world leader in aero-engines.
China cities shut down factories, order holiday for G20 summit
Chinese authorities have shut down scores of factories and ordered a mandatory holiday for workers ahead of a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers, authorities said.
The Hangzhou city government ordered a holiday for businesses in the downtown area from September 1 to 7, according to an official social media account. The G20 meeting will be held on September 4 and 5. City officials have also encouraged citizens to take their holiday out of town, in the hopes of reducing congestion. The city has already spent months preparing for the meeting and has undergone a major overhaul in an attempt to make traffic more efficient.
Along with the mandatory vacation, certain types of factories within a 300-kilometre radius of Hangzhou have been forced to shut down for 12 days in order to ensure blue skies for the visiting dignitaries, according to government websites.
The order affects chemical producers, construction material factories and textile manufacturers stretching across Shanghai and four provinces. China often orders mass factory closures to clean up the chronically polluted skies of most major cities. The phenomenon was apparent at a major military parade last year to mark the end of
World War II.
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