Shanghai to host aerospace show in September

The first Shanghai International Commercial Aerospace Exhibition will be held in the East China municipality in September, the organizing committee said last week.

It will be held from Sept 15 to 19 at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and biennially thereafter, the committee said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The exhibition will feature an aeroengine forum, a superalloy industry summit, a commercial aircraft conference, a commercial aerospace financial and technological symposium and a business-matching workshop for small aerospace enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta. Educational activities will be arranged for the public to promote aviation and space knowledge, the statement said.

Commercial aircraft and spacecraft will be on display at the airport during the exhibition, it added.

The organizing committee said the new exhibition will replace the China Aviation Expo, popularly known as the Beijing Airshow, which was founded in 1984 as the nation's first aviation expo.

The last China Aviation Expo, the 18th of its kind, was held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing in September 2019.

The committee said it intends to make the Shanghai exhibition a world-class aerospace industry show that can strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the aerospace sector and help Shanghai develop its aviation and space industries.

Sources with knowledge of the event said the Shanghai government wants to turn the exhibition into China's answer to the International Paris Air Show, one of the biggest global air shows, which is held in the French capital in odd-numbered years.

Shanghai's government also aims to use the occasion to boost its efforts to build a top-tier air transport center, sources said, adding that about 60,000 visitors are expected to attend the first exhibition.

Yan Zhenyu, a senior aerospace industry analyst, said on Friday that Shanghai has several advantages when it comes to organizing an air show.

"The city is home to the central government's large jetliner program and Commercial Aircraft Corp of China. It has a solid, comprehensive industrial foundation required for the development of aerospace businesses," he said. "Furthermore, the municipal government desires a strong aerospace industry and an influential expo for the industry."

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, the country's biggest manufacturer of commercial jetliners, is conducting test flights of its C919 narrow-body airliner, China's latest attempt to break the Airbus and Boeing duopoly.

Currently, the biggest and most influential air show in the nation is the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, commonly known as the Zhuhai Airshow, which takes place in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai in Guangdong province in even-numbered years.