Pudong's aviation industry advances during 13th Five Year Plan

The aviation industry in Pudong New Area, Shanghai has made major advancements during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), with its output value increasing from less than 1 billion yuan ($155 million) in 2015 to more than 10 billion in 2020, local media outlets reported.

The China-developed ARJ21 regional jetliner had a record high annual delivery of 24 aircrafts in 2020, with a total of 46 ARJ21 aircrafts being delivered since it entered mass production, according to the State-owned plane maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, which is headquartered in Pudong.

The C919, the nation's first homegrown narrow-body passenger plane, is currently undergoing intensive flying tests, with the first aircraft scheduled for delivery to its customer within the year.

South of the Pudong International Airport, construction on a 7.86-square-kilometer aircraft industrial park is progressing smoothly.

One of the 26 special industrial parks in Shanghai, the aircraft park will be home to a comprehensive industrial chain, involving aircraft research and development, manufacturing, as well as maintenance and services, said Zhang Jun, an official of the administration of Lin-gang Special Area.

Led by COMAC and the country's leading aircraft engine manufacturer Aero Engine Corporation of China, the park is expected to form an industrial cluster valued at 50 billion yuan by 2025 and 200 billion yuan by 2035.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Pudong's aviation industry will gradually divert its emphasis from R&D and testing of homegrown planes to developing supporting industries, said officials from the district's sci-tech and economy authority.

Preferential policies will be offered not only for the mass production and testing of aircrafts, but also to market-oriented operations involving investment, leasing, as well as financing.