News
Top Chinese aviation expert calls for self-reliant supply chain for COMAC jets
May 14th 2026
Zhang Yanzhong, a senior academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the former chief scientist of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, on April 30, 2026, published a paper acknowledging a very real risk that the country could be cut off entirely from components made in the West. Read More » The publication and its findings were reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) this week. According to Zhang, many critical COMAC C919 parts came from Western companies. He warned that global “geopolitical competition” and a “decoupling” push by the US and Europe had “intensified the risk to China’s large aircraft supply chain”. Zhang recalled that in 2020, the Leap-1C engine powering the C919 jet had faced a “supply cut-off crisis”, only resolved by a temporary export license, and the US National Defense Authorization Act and export control entity lists meant the supply of advanced engines and avionics could be cut off at any time. Zhang also said that even if parts were not formally banned, Western suppliers could simply prioritize projects for the likes of Boeing and Airbus, delaying deliveries to China and making it harder for COMAC to control its own production schedule. In conclusion to his paper, published in the Strategic Study of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Zhang wrote that the old model of relying on a globalized, “open” supply chain was “no longer suitable” for China’s needs and called for a dedicated national program, with stable funding and a “whole-nation system” to mobilize resources across military and civilian sectors. He set out a detailed technical roadmap for replacing every vulnerable component, calling for the development of the Chinese-made CJ-1000A engine, which is currently in its certification phase, to be accelerated. He also outlines the need to build auxiliary power units, along with avionics, flight control, and power systems, all of which would use domestic chips, software, and advanced materials. According to a Beijing-based researcher, who talked with SCMP, the publication of Zhang’s paper “signaled the technical elite’s view on what is necessary, but it has not yet been formally adopted as a binding national plan.”
