Recently, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (“MIIT”) announced in a formal document that China Zhongwang became one of the only four members of the State’s cooperation mechanism between upstream and downstream players for aluminium application in civil aviation (“cooperation mechanism”). The cooperation mechanism was set up by MIIT to accelerate the research and development, production and application of aluminium products in domestically produced civil aviation, while achieving collaborative innovation between upstream and downstream players.
Few days ago, the raw material department and machinery industry department under MIIT jointly organized the first meeting in Shanghai on the cooperation mechanism. MIIT will focus on the key processes in research and development, production and application of aerospace aluminium products, in order to promote complete independent supply of the products and establish independent innovative system on material and equipment technology. By improving policy and industry standards on aluminium products in civil aviation, MIIT is in promotion of cooperation between SOEs and private companies, as well as civil-military integration.
China has become the largest aluminium product manufacturer and consumer in the world, but high-end aluminium flat rolled products for aviation use are mostly still relied on import. Leverage the cooperation mechanism, development of independent supply of aerospace aluminium products will see positive changes, creating new opportunities for domestic high-end aluminium processing industry.
China Zhongwang started early in exploring aluminium application in aviation and aerospace. In 2013, the Group launched research and development project on “7075 extruded rods for aviation”, in study of the specifications, features and strict quality requirements on aluminium extrusion products applied in aviation. In 2015, the Group, together with Shenyang Aerospace University and AVIC SAC Commercial Aircraft Company Limited, established Liaoning Aerospace Aluminium Joint Research and Development Laboratory.
China Zhongwang’s aluminium flat rolled products project in Tianjin (“FRP project”) has been under way for five years. The FRP project will mainly produce medium- to high-thinkness aluminum plates to be applied in chemical vessels and transportation sector including aerospace, vessels, commercial vehicles, special vehicles and railway. Currently, plant construction and equipment installation of the first production line is basically completed. It is expected to put into trial production on schedule and commence operation by the end of this year.
