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The development of engines for civil aircrafts is always a sore point for China’s aviation industry like the big planes. China needs to import a lot of aircraft engines， many more than the Airbus and Boeing planes every year.
The hearts of aircrafts used in China are all supplied by General Electric， Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney， the Top 3 aircraft engine manufacturers in the world.
According to the forecast of Industrial Securities， the annual market value of engines for military and civil planes is higher than RMB 110 billon in the next ten years. The civil engine market is worth RMB 80 billion wile the military engine market values RMB 30 billion.
Presently， some of the military planes in China have been equipped with domestic-made engines， but the Chinese-made passenger aircraft Modern Ark 60 and ARJ 21 still need foreign engines. In order to win the huge market worth billions of yuan， the investment into and development of self-made engines have been placed into the schedule along with the initiation of domestic-made big passenger planes.
Three Giants’ Big Business in China
“The engine can be said to have the highest technological requirements in the development of planes. Thus its value is very high. The price of engines usually takes 25%-30% of a single plane’s cost，” says Zhou Jisheng， who took part in the development of several domestic planes. Presently， the market of engines for civil planes is monopolized by GE， Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney.
Zhou Jisheng points out that the Chinese-made engines are far behind the foreign ones even though they can be installed into fighters. “The gap exists everywhere， including the technique， metallurgy， design and manufacturing. Compared with aircraft engines for military use， the civil engines are more requiring in terms of safety， reliability and economic benefits and the manufacturing is more complicated.
“It is hard to develop engines for civil planes. The process is long since it takes 15 years from research & development to production，” says Tan Ruisong， general manager of Aviation Industry Corporation of China （AVIC）. Developed countries usually ban the transfer of core technologies of aircraft engines to other countries， not even their Western allies.
The high technological threshold ensures the high returns from the market for the three engine manufacturers. China is among the list of their most important markets. According to Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China， the Chinese market is going to receive 5，457 planes with more than 50 seats in the next 20 years and each of these planes is going to have two or four engines installed. However， some experts think that the technological advances are not the only hurdles for the development of civil aircraft engines in China. Another important reason is the ignorance of the importance and the insufficient investment. In the United States， for example， the investment into the aircraft engine amounted to US$100 billion in the past 50 years. In comparison， the investment from China cannot even begin to compare with the investment of an American enterprise.
“Previously， the planes for civil use in China were imported from foreign companies， let alone the engines. Since there is no driving force from domesticmade products， the development of engines for civil aircrafts was not given enough attention. In recent years， however， the development of civil planes has been enlisted as the strategic planning of the country and the development of corresponding engines have also been put into the schedule，” Zhou Jisheng says.
The Battle Hard to Win
In the Planning about Development of National Emerging Strategic Industries in the 12th Five-Year Plan printed and published in July 2012， the aviation equipment industry was enlisted as the No. 1 project of the high-end device manufacturing. A clear goal was put forward concerning the engine that breakthroughs are needed for the core technologies of aircraft engines. Later， some experts suggested that the development of aircraft engines should be recruited into the national key special projects so that the government can directly provide funds for the development of aircraft engines.
In the battle of contending for the engine market， AVIC， which has been shouldering the research and development of components for civil and military planes in China， also put more efforts into the breakthroughs and distributions of the aircraft engines.
Lin Zuoming， board chairman of AVIC， says that the 12th Five-Year Plan which ends in 2015 is the key period for the development of aircraft engines. AVIC is going to fully commit itself to the development of relevant technologies. It plans to invest about RMB 10 billion to have a battle to turn around the situation of the Chinese market of aircraft engines.
Presently， AVIC has three listed subsidiary companies that are involved in the research and development of aircraft engines. Aviation Power， China Aviation Power Control and Chengfa Technology are the three main bodies in this matter and are respectively responsible for the main part， control system and drive system of engines. Meanwhile， AVIC is trying to get the advanced engine technologies from foreign countries more quickly in the form of overseas acquisition. This July， AVIC’s international branch China Aviation Technology International Holdings finished the acquisition and integration of Germany-based Thielert， a company specializing in aircraft piston engines. This was the first overseas acquisition AVIC made after acquiring U.S.-based Continental Engine in April 2011.
The acquisition of Continental Engine and Thielert made AVIC the only supplier in the world can simultaneously provide the gasoline-based piston engine and kerosene-based piston engine for thee planes. However， these engines are mostly used in the general aviation market.
The Difficulties in Cooperation
In 2009， AVIC， Shanghai Electric and Shanghai Guosheng （Group） Co.， Ltd joined funds to found AVIC Commercial Plane Engine Co.， Ltd （AVIC Commercial Engine）， a mark that the civil aircraft engine in China had entered the period of substantial development. The task of this joint venture is to develop engines that can match C919， a domestic-made big passenger plane in China. When this is finished， the company is going to be involved in the development of more types of aircraft engines， even the ones fitting the huge planes with more than 250 seats.
However， that path is uneven and thorny. Since Chinese companies are short of technologies， materials， experiences in design and manufacturing， AVIC Commercial Engine finally chose to work with established foreign engine companies during the initial period of research and development.
Germany-based MTU Aviation Engine was chosen. The two companies reached a series of agreements about the engines for the civil planes. The agreement brought about the advantages of both companies together and joined the forces of developing 150-seat big planes with turbine engines. The possible target is the C919 passenger plane which Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China is developing.
It is worthwhile to mention that MTU is the only independent aircraft engine manufacturer in Germany and has leading technologies in the manufacturing and repairing of of low-pressure turbine engines and high-pressure engines. However， it is not a member of the main camp of civil aircraft engine suppliers in the world consisting of GE， Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. Those giants have no intentions or plans to work with Chinese companies in the development of Chinese own aircraft engines.
The hearts of aircrafts used in China are all supplied by General Electric， Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney， the Top 3 aircraft engine manufacturers in the world.
According to the forecast of Industrial Securities， the annual market value of engines for military and civil planes is higher than RMB 110 billon in the next ten years. The civil engine market is worth RMB 80 billion wile the military engine market values RMB 30 billion.
Presently， some of the military planes in China have been equipped with domestic-made engines， but the Chinese-made passenger aircraft Modern Ark 60 and ARJ 21 still need foreign engines. In order to win the huge market worth billions of yuan， the investment into and development of self-made engines have been placed into the schedule along with the initiation of domestic-made big passenger planes.
Three Giants’ Big Business in China
“The engine can be said to have the highest technological requirements in the development of planes. Thus its value is very high. The price of engines usually takes 25%-30% of a single plane’s cost，” says Zhou Jisheng， who took part in the development of several domestic planes. Presently， the market of engines for civil planes is monopolized by GE， Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney.
Zhou Jisheng points out that the Chinese-made engines are far behind the foreign ones even though they can be installed into fighters. “The gap exists everywhere， including the technique， metallurgy， design and manufacturing. Compared with aircraft engines for military use， the civil engines are more requiring in terms of safety， reliability and economic benefits and the manufacturing is more complicated.
“It is hard to develop engines for civil planes. The process is long since it takes 15 years from research & development to production，” says Tan Ruisong， general manager of Aviation Industry Corporation of China （AVIC）. Developed countries usually ban the transfer of core technologies of aircraft engines to other countries， not even their Western allies.
The high technological threshold ensures the high returns from the market for the three engine manufacturers. China is among the list of their most important markets. According to Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China， the Chinese market is going to receive 5，457 planes with more than 50 seats in the next 20 years and each of these planes is going to have two or four engines installed. However， some experts think that the technological advances are not the only hurdles for the development of civil aircraft engines in China. Another important reason is the ignorance of the importance and the insufficient investment. In the United States， for example， the investment into the aircraft engine amounted to US$100 billion in the past 50 years. In comparison， the investment from China cannot even begin to compare with the investment of an American enterprise.
“Previously， the planes for civil use in China were imported from foreign companies， let alone the engines. Since there is no driving force from domesticmade products， the development of engines for civil aircrafts was not given enough attention. In recent years， however， the development of civil planes has been enlisted as the strategic planning of the country and the development of corresponding engines have also been put into the schedule，” Zhou Jisheng says.
The Battle Hard to Win
In the Planning about Development of National Emerging Strategic Industries in the 12th Five-Year Plan printed and published in July 2012， the aviation equipment industry was enlisted as the No. 1 project of the high-end device manufacturing. A clear goal was put forward concerning the engine that breakthroughs are needed for the core technologies of aircraft engines. Later， some experts suggested that the development of aircraft engines should be recruited into the national key special projects so that the government can directly provide funds for the development of aircraft engines.
In the battle of contending for the engine market， AVIC， which has been shouldering the research and development of components for civil and military planes in China， also put more efforts into the breakthroughs and distributions of the aircraft engines.
Lin Zuoming， board chairman of AVIC， says that the 12th Five-Year Plan which ends in 2015 is the key period for the development of aircraft engines. AVIC is going to fully commit itself to the development of relevant technologies. It plans to invest about RMB 10 billion to have a battle to turn around the situation of the Chinese market of aircraft engines.
Presently， AVIC has three listed subsidiary companies that are involved in the research and development of aircraft engines. Aviation Power， China Aviation Power Control and Chengfa Technology are the three main bodies in this matter and are respectively responsible for the main part， control system and drive system of engines. Meanwhile， AVIC is trying to get the advanced engine technologies from foreign countries more quickly in the form of overseas acquisition. This July， AVIC’s international branch China Aviation Technology International Holdings finished the acquisition and integration of Germany-based Thielert， a company specializing in aircraft piston engines. This was the first overseas acquisition AVIC made after acquiring U.S.-based Continental Engine in April 2011.
The acquisition of Continental Engine and Thielert made AVIC the only supplier in the world can simultaneously provide the gasoline-based piston engine and kerosene-based piston engine for thee planes. However， these engines are mostly used in the general aviation market.
The Difficulties in Cooperation
In 2009， AVIC， Shanghai Electric and Shanghai Guosheng （Group） Co.， Ltd joined funds to found AVIC Commercial Plane Engine Co.， Ltd （AVIC Commercial Engine）， a mark that the civil aircraft engine in China had entered the period of substantial development. The task of this joint venture is to develop engines that can match C919， a domestic-made big passenger plane in China. When this is finished， the company is going to be involved in the development of more types of aircraft engines， even the ones fitting the huge planes with more than 250 seats.
However， that path is uneven and thorny. Since Chinese companies are short of technologies， materials， experiences in design and manufacturing， AVIC Commercial Engine finally chose to work with established foreign engine companies during the initial period of research and development.
Germany-based MTU Aviation Engine was chosen. The two companies reached a series of agreements about the engines for the civil planes. The agreement brought about the advantages of both companies together and joined the forces of developing 150-seat big planes with turbine engines. The possible target is the C919 passenger plane which Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China is developing.
It is worthwhile to mention that MTU is the only independent aircraft engine manufacturer in Germany and has leading technologies in the manufacturing and repairing of of low-pressure turbine engines and high-pressure engines. However， it is not a member of the main camp of civil aircraft engine suppliers in the world consisting of GE， Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. Those giants have no intentions or plans to work with Chinese companies in the development of Chinese own aircraft engines.