China’s flagship narrow-body aircraft project, the COMAC C919, has encountered a major setback following a U.S. decision to suspend the export of CFM LEAP-1C engines. Developed jointly by General Electric (U.S.) and Safran (France), these engines are a critical component of the C919 program. The move, viewed within the context of the ongoing U.S.-China trade and technology rivalry, poses a serious threat to the future of China’s commercial aviation ambitions.
The C919 is heavily dependent on Western technology, not only for its engines but also for multiple avionics and structural components. With no immediate replacement available, the suspension risks grounding newly manufactured aircraft indefinitely, as they await powerplants that are no longer being delivered.
China’s aviation industry has been working on developing a domestic alternative — the ACAE CJ-1000A turbofan engine. However, this engine is still in the testing phase and is not expected to enter serial production before 2030. While Chinese engineers plan to conduct trial flights using the CJ-1000A in the near future, mass deployment remains years away.
This disruption underscores a critical vulnerability in the Chinese aerospace sector: the absence of a mature domestic jet engine industry. Experts note that while some aircraft components can be locally developed or substituted relatively quickly, the design and manufacture of high-bypass turbofan engines involves a far greater level of technical complexity and time.
The situation highlights the broader risks of global supply chain dependencies in strategic industries such as aviation, where key systems and technologies remain concentrated among a handful of Western suppliers.
Unless a viable domestic solution emerges, the C919 program is likely to remain on hold, dealing a blow to China’s ambitions of becoming a major player in the global commercial aircraft market.
