Six years after its reorganization into specialist subsidiaries, Avic is handling a wide range of civil aircraft programs, with a remarkable number of mostly secretive engine developments also coming into view. It still has challenges, however, beginning with its sheer size: it has 400,000 employees, many working in fields unrelated to building aircraft.

China’s new J-20 stealth fighter design points to highly specific mission requirements.

The new CX-1 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) shows an uncanny resemblance to another famous supersonic missile, the Mach 2.8-3.0 speed Russian-Indian BrahMos.

Two major sections of the first C919 fuselage have been connected, and the nose is in position to join them. “Final assembly is proceeding steadily,” says Comac, adding that it is trying to complete joining the structure by year-end, after which it will integrate the on-board systems. The roll-out is due in the third quarter of 2015.

As the MA700 moves closer to being production-ready, Avic hopes the new offering will be well-received.

In 2010, the hope was that by 2015 private aircraft would be widely usable in China. As of 2014, little progress has been made for propeller-driven aircraft, although helicopter operations are making progress.

The 10th Zhuhai air show sees China emerging as a one-stop military aerospace provider, from surveillance satellites to 50-kg small-diameter precision-guided munitions.

Sukhoi needs an order, so it is willing to sell its most advanced Flanker to China, a customer that has already reverse engineered the Su-27.