China looks to UK to build aerospace industry, UK Trade and Investment

Release Date: 2009-10-23

Chinese aviation associations visit UK to help developing its budding aerospace industry.
A delegation of senior officials from the Chinese Aviation Industry Base, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China are visiting the UK to hear about the British aerospace sector.

The delegation met British officials from UK Trade & Investment, the government's international development organisation, as well as representatives from UK companies to discuss doing business in the Chinese aerospace industry, this week.

The UK aerospace sector is regarded as a world leader in composite technologies. British companies are also developing ever-greener and more fuel-efficient engines, expertise that the Chinese are keen to learn from.

Sir Andrew Cahn, chief executive of UK Trade & Investment, said: "China is set to become one of the major engineering powers of the 21st century. The delegation here wants to know about the strengths and technological know-how that have made the British aerospace sector so successful.

"This is an opportunity that cannot be ignored. The aerospace sector in China is being built virtually from scratch. There are excellent prospects at virtually every point of the supply chain. We want to work together to help British companies make the most of it."

It has been estimated that the China will need as many as 2800 new passenger aircraft and freighters between now and 2026. The government also has plans to develop its own Chinese-built jumbo jet. Representatives of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China - the organisation that will design and build the new Chinese - are among the delegates visiting the UK.

The first meetings were held in Belfast this week. The Chinese also visited the Bombardier aerospace factory before touring other aerospace companies in the south west of Britain such as GKN and GE Aviation.
Type: NORMAL
Company: UK Trade and Investment
Country: United Kingdom
 
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