Defense industry emphasizes civilian production
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-27 10:13

The output value of civilian products accounted for more than 65 percent of the total output value of China's defense-related science, technology and industry in 2003, says a government white paper issued here Monday.

"China has made remarkable progress in putting military industrial technology to civil use in the past two years. In 2003, the output value of civilian products rose by 20 percent as compared with that of the previous year," says the white paper on China's national defense in 2004, released by the Information Office of China's State Council.

The white paper gives a briefing of the latest developments of the industry in the construction of nuclear power plants, space technologies for civil use, research and production of civilian aircraft and ships.

Nuclear power production is being industrialized. China's mainland now has nine nuclear power generating sets in operation, the total installed capacity of which is 7.01 million KW. Another two, each with an installed capacity of 1.06 million KW, are now under construction.

In 2003, China's nuclear power production was 43.3 billion KWH, accounting for 2.3 percent of its total power production. Steady progress has been made in the construction of auxiliary projects for nuclear energy. A nuclear fuel production system tailored to nuclear power production has by and large taken shape, and the production of nuclear fuel has been technologically upgraded.

Major breakthroughs have been made in space technologies for civil use. Since October 1996, China has succeeded in 41 space launches. The successful launching of the "Shenzhou 5" spaceship in October 2003 sent China's first astronaut into space. The key technological problems for the new generation of carrier rockets have been tackled.

China has successfully launched various application satellites, including SSO (Sun Synchronous Orbit) and GEO (Geostationary Orbit) meteorological satellites, the HY-1 oceanographic satellite and CBERS (China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite). The R&D of a DMEC ( Disaster Monitoring and Environmental Control) satellite constellation, a large GEO satellite platform and a new generation of SSO meteorological satellites is going on smoothly.

A lunar probe project was officially started in January 2004, and a lunar orbiting exploration is scheduled to be carried out by the end of 2007.

The aviation industry for civil use has made important headway in the R&D of feeder liners and general-purpose aircraft. ARJ21, a new jet feeder liner with 70 seats, is being independently developed, and is scheduled for delivery in 2008. The Y-12E general-purpose aircraft for use in high-temperature and plateau conditions and the Z-11 and Z-9 helicopters have all received airworthiness certificates and been put on the commercial market. The newly developed "Xiaoying 500" general-purpose plane made its first flight in 2003.

The ERJ145 jet feeder liner jointly manufactured by China and Brazil has been delivered to users. An agreement has been formally signed on the building of an assembly line in China for the EC120 helicopter jointly developed by China, France and Singapore. Subcontracting business for the manufacture of foreign aircraft parts has been developing steadily, and begun to be integrated into the large-scale circulation system of the international aviation industry.

The shipbuilding industry for civil use has witnessed sustained rapid growth, with an output ranking third in the world for many years. In 2003, China's accomplished shipbuilding output, newly received orders and on-hand orders amounted to 6.41 million DWT, 18.95 million DWT and 26.23 million DWT respectively, accounting for a world market share of 11.8 percent, 18.9 percent and 17.7 percent respectively.

Products manufactured by the shipbuilding industry for civil use have been exported to more than 90 countries and regions. The R&D and designing capability of the shipbuilding industry for civil use has been remarkably raised. It can now build and repair large ships, and has made new breakthroughs in building high-tech ships.

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