China is set to overtake all rivals as the world's largest aviation services market by 2044, with its value projected to soar from 24.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 to 63.8 billion, Airbus said in its latest Global Services Forecast released Thursday.
The report highlights a significant shift in the focus of after-sales services toward the east. Among the various sectors, digital and connectivity services are expected to experience the fastest growth, with market values soaring from 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 to 5.1 billion U.S. dollars by 2044.
China holds the title of the largest single-country market for Airbus in terms of fleet size. The company anticipates that China will take delivery of approximately 9,570 new aircraft over the next 20 years, further boosting demand for comprehensive services throughout the aircraft lifecycle.
Highlighting China’s rapid growth in aviation services, Amaya Rodriguez Gonzalez, Airbus's vice president of aftermarket strategy customer services, told CGTN in Beijing that digital connectivity services will drive the fastest growth over the next two decades.
"In terms of opportunity, definitely we see the market dedicated to digital and connectivity as one of the highest growth markets for the next 20 years. In terms of size, it will grow from 9 million in 2025 to around 26 billion by 2044 with a compounded annual growth rate of 5.6 percent, which is the highest of all the markets. What we can see is that actually China will become the largest market in terms of services demand by 2044. We're talking about taking a market share today of around 15 to 16 percent out of the total services a month to around 20 percent by 2044. We're talking about reaching our services amount of 64 billion U.S. dollars by that time," said Amaya Rodriguez Gonzalez, vice president of aftermarket strategy customer services, she said.
Airbus forecasts China to lead global aviation services market by 2044
The recent 2026 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) Annual Conference in Beijing has impressed international guests with its focus on deeper integration of technological and industrial innovation, highlighting how China's innovative advances are reshaping daily life.
The five-day forum, themed "Full Integration Between Technological and Industrial Innovation," wrapped up in Chinese capital on Sunday after bringing together more than 1,000 participants from over 100 countries and regions around the world.
More than 560 cutting-edge achievements were unveiled at the event, ranging from embodied intelligent robots and brain-computer interfaces to breakthroughs in quantum applications and 6G research and development.
The venue for the forum also showcased a number of these innovative creations to visitors, who were able to enjoy a fresh cup of coffee prepared by a humanoid barista, as well as be throughly entertained by robots performing dances or even playing piano.
Given the presence of these advanced humanoid robots, international participants shared the common view that innovation is no longer confined to laboratories but is now permeating every aspect of daily life.
"The deepest impression is actually to see how much AI is across everywhere," said Anders Karlsson, vice president of Elsevier, a global leader providing advanced information and decision support to accelerate progress in science and healthcare worldwide.
"The Zhongguancun Forum has become a very international window on innovation. We can find out annually how innovation is driving [and a key] component of growth of this wonderful country," said Vincenzo Lipardi, president and co-founder of SPICI, an Italian company assisting businesses and startups with strategic consulting services.
"As a scientist and as a worker of the United Nations system, I'm really pleased to see integration of science, technology and sustainability," said Shahbaz Khan, director of the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia.
One of the forum's key themes was around opening up and striving for greater cooperation, which demonstrated to the wider world that China's innovation aims to break down barriers and share opportunities, so as to enable the global community to advance together.
"It's my first time attending the forum. And I'm very surprised that you have a very high level of innovation. China is open to ideas. Openness is the way to make innovations," said Prof. Hussein Sherief, a member of the International Committee for Scientific and Technical Data (CODATA).
Int'l guests hail integration of technology, innovation at Beijing forum
