The 7th China Helicopter Exposition, which opened Thursday in Tianjin, has drawn over 180 foreign companies from more than 30 countries and regions, many of which have voiced interest in deepening cooperation with Chinese firms.
Hosted by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the four-day event features 52 aircraft models, including helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Airbus Helicopters, one of the largest helicopter manufacturers around the globe, displayed its five-blade H145 helicopter for the first time in China. The upgraded five-blade main rotor demonstrated superior performance in high-temperature and high-altitude environments, attracting a steady stream of customer inquiries.
"What we can see is (that) the growth on the Chinese helicopter market over the last three years has been strong and progressive, which I think really leads to the dynamic atmosphere that we have at the show today. And we have a number of projects already ongoing that will be introduced in the coming months and years," said Colin James, managing director of Airbus Helicopters China.
The expo has also drawn major global helicopter manufacturers such as Russian Helicopters and Bell, along with companies across the industry chain, from engine production to helicopter maintenance. Many expressed willingness to enhance cooperation with Chinese firms.
"I think that Chinese market is one of the largest markets in the world. Our helicopters can be used for different purposes. We are looking forward to work with Chinese companies under the development of helicopters, according to the needs of Chinese markets," said Suchilin Sergei, person in charge of helicopter life cycle support at Russian Helicopters.
"We are very pleased to welcome all our customers. We have over 100 operator customers in China, and this afternoon we will be signing several contracts for maintenance and repair of engines in China for different operators," said Olivier Savin, executive vice president of Safran Helicopter Engines in France.
Global helicopter firms seek deeper cooperation with China at Tianjin expo
China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.
Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.
"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.
China's development never a threat: FM spokesman
