Hangzhou capitalizes on Aviation Town to become an aviation city

HANGZHOU, China, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jiande Aviation Town inked seven general aviation deals in the first quarter of 2019, attracting some 2.5 billion yuan of investment, according to an official with the town management committee.

The aviation town currently has 17 more projects in talks with total investment amounting to 45.85 billion yuan, the official said.

Built on industrial remains left from the old Hengshan ferroalloy factory, the once industrial town in Hangzhou has transformed itself into a new growth engine with general aviation fueling transformation.

Driven by east China's Zhejiang's plan to raise aviation manufacturing industry output value to 100 billion yuan by 2020, Hangzhou cast Jiande Aviation Town for the "general aviation model" to cluster full-chain general aviation resources.

Since establishment in 2016, the aviation town realized fixed-asset investment of 3.399 billion yuan, including 2.603 billion yuan of social capital.

The aviation town now hosts settlement of 773 enterprises with main business revenue amounting to 7.133 billion yuan.

As a trillion-yuan scale uprising industry, general aviation industry could drive related sector development while transform economic development pattern and boost industrial and consumption upgrades, experts say.

In terms of transformation, Hangzhou based XIZI UHC brought its name forward when China's first self-developed trunk jetliner, the C919, conducted its successful maiden flight in 2017. As the only private enterprise on C919's supplier list, the once boiler and elevator making company now holds contracts with Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, AVIC and COMAC.

Upgrading manufacturing to connect with aviation is a good fit for traditional sectors' modern transformation, said an official with Zhejiang Province Economic and Information Commission, noting that Hangzhou is deploying all resources for a spot in the strategic emerging industry.

The city's Qiantang New District, a development area for aviation manufacturing, saw School of Aeronautics and Astronautics under Zhejiang University settle in to develop high-end aircraft technology. Its main team, led by professor Ke Yinglin, had previously developed 17 sets of aircraft automated assembly systems and two assembly pulsation production lines, providing strong technical support for the country's key military aircraft models.

Hangzhou is mapping a full-chain plan towards an "aviation city" future that integrates learning, R&D, manufacturing, tourism as well as other aviation services.