China is making little progress in opening its skies to fixed-wing general aviation, industry officials say, four years after the announcement of what seemed like promising plans for liberalization.

Cessna says that its new Citation X+ and Citation Sovereign+ models are on track to gain certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in early 2015.

Quest Aircraft Company has moved to expand its reach in China under an agreement that would give it a sales presence in the short term and ultimately provide for the manufacturing of its Kodiak single-turboprop aircraft here.

Airbus Helicopters has delivered a twin-engine EC135 to Beijing’s 999 Emergency Centre and claims this is the first helicopter delivered to China already equipped for helicopter emergency services (HEMS).

Having enough skilled and qualified maintenance personnel and pilots is one of the key issues that needs to be addressed if China is to add large numbers of helicopters in the coming years, says Bell Helicopter China vice president, Chris Jaran.

Bombardier is hoping that the emergence of new independent airlines in China will help it generate sales for its commercial aircraft.

China is an important potential market for the Airbus A380 according to Airbus China, but so far Chinese carriers have opted for smaller widebodies to serve long-haul international markets.

Thales has disclosed that Lion Group, Indonesia’s largest privately-owned airline group, has chosen the Thales avionics system for its Airbus narrowbody aircraft on order.