Economic Daily: China Airshow Opens New Business Opportunities with Hard Power
2022-01-10

The Zhuhai Airshow showcases hard power. This year's airshow is unprecedented in scale, with exhibition area and number of exhibits reaching historical highs, creating a new pattern of dynamic demonstration integrating "air, sea, and land" for the first time. Various types of launch vehicles, new products in the low-altitude economy, and the world's first lunar far side samples brought back by Chang'e 6... cutting-edge technology and major national equipment are everywhere at the airshow, with many new exhibits, technologies, and achievements making their debut.
The new stealth fighter J-35A made a surprise appearance, marking China as the second country in the world to possess two types of stealth fighters. The "Orca" large stealth unmanned combat vessel, with a range exceeding 4,000 nautical miles, made its global debut, indicating a change in future naval warfare. The "Jiutian" drone made its first appearance at the airshow, hailed as a "drone aircraft carrier," capable of deploying swarms of drones. These "stars" of the airshow are a demonstration of China's military strength and a symbol of the country's technological progress.
Aerospace has become an important symbol of a country's technological strength and comprehensive national power. In recent years, China's aerospace industry has achieved remarkable accomplishments. Since its first exhibition in 1996, the Zhuhai Airshow has developed over 28 years, continuously enhancing its internationalization, specialization, and marketization levels, and has become one of the world's top airshows, serving as a "shining business card" for China to showcase its aerospace achievements and defense equipment strength to the world.
The Zhuhai Airshow has opened up new business opportunities. The airshow serves as a platform for negotiations and transactions, a window for countries around the world to showcase their development opportunities and seek partners. This blue sky event, attracting global attention, has drawn 1,022 enterprises from 47 countries and regions to participate, with the number of overseas exhibitors doubling compared to the last airshow. The expansion of the circle of friends highlights the airshow's approachability.
On the first day of the airshow, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation held a major project signing ceremony, with a total signing amount of nearly 60 billion yuan, setting a new record. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China signed the first user framework agreement for the C929 large aircraft with China National Airlines, and the C929 wide-body passenger aircraft under development aims to compete with Airbus and Boeing's twin-aisle models, paving a broader path for China's large aircraft industry. China's domestically produced civil aviation engines have received orders exceeding 10 billion yuan, and the steel eagle will have more and more Chinese hearts.
This year's Zhuhai Airshow has set up a low-altitude economy pavilion for the first time, showcasing the future of urban aerial mobility. Various low-altitude aircraft, including Xiaopeng's "land aircraft carrier" and "Xiangyun" AS700 manned airship, made their appearances. The Civil Aviation Administration of China estimates that by 2025, the market size of China's low-altitude economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035. China's commercial space industry has also entered a fast track of development, achieving "from 0 to 1" breakthroughs in multiple fields, and has initially formed an industrial chain integrating rocket assembly and testing, satellite research and production, and satellite data applications for commercial space. The future industries of low-altitude economy and commercial space have broad prospects, indicating that the currently thriving airshow will have even greater development potential in the future.
With strong high-tech manufacturing capabilities, there is greater international competitiveness. As an emerging aerospace power, China continues to achieve new results and breakthroughs in the aerospace field. The Zhuhai Airshow serves as a stage and window for China's aerospace industry to open up new business opportunities with hard power, providing a broad platform and valuable opportunities for global commercial cooperation and peaceful use of space.