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.

SOURCE:  Jiande Aviation Town management committee