Why can’t China build jetengines ?

[3NUMBAS]

China is the world's manufacturing hub.

 

But can it produce jet engines for aviation? After many years of development, the first Chinese airliner finally entered into service in 2022: the Comac C919. However, the Comac was almost entirely constructed using Western technology, engines included.

For many, this move might seem obvious: build a plane using Western technology, learn from it, and make the next using your own. This is of course the case. China knew it was far behind with jet engines, and the only reasonable way to join the race was to begin by learning from Western products. Needless to say, this strategy was not invented in China. It has been used by almost all countries during their developing stage (in the 1950s, “Made in Japan” was considered the cheap copy).

But, even if they do get engines to learn from. Can they manage to make their own? It's not that easy. Let's start from the beginning.

 

https://turbli.com/blog/why-is-it-so-hard-for-china-to-develop-jet-engines/

[KhunLA]

Can you do something other the spew hate & ignorance.   Might want to Google "Aero Engine Corporation of China"

 

[cdemundo]

8 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Can you do something other the spew hate & ignorance.   Might want to Google "Aero Engine Corporation of China"

 

The article from Turbli does not look like hate and ignorance.

It contains a lot of interesting historical information about engineering development.

There can be disagreement about conclusions without there being hate and ignorance.

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

The article from Turbli does not look like hate and ignorance.

It contains a lot of interesting historical information about engineering development.

There can be disagreement about conclusions without there being hate and ignorance.

A blog with a false narrative ... "But can it produce jet engines for aviation? ", posted by one of the usual 'suspects' , spewing hate & ignorance ... IMHO

 

Why AN is such a fast read of late.

 

 

[novacova]

12 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

Why can’t China build jetengines ?

Because they haven’t stolen the engineering designs yet.

[BLMFem]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Can you do something other the spew hate & ignorance.   Might want to Google "Aero Engine Corporation of China"

 

Hate and ignorance?? Please quote from the blog where you found passages of hate and ignorance, or I'm gonna call your reaction fake outrage BS.

[candide]

21 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

China is the world's manufacturing hub.

 

But can it produce jet engines for aviation? After many years of development, the first Chinese airliner finally entered into service in 2022: the Comac C919. However, the Comac was almost entirely constructed using Western technology, engines included.

For many, this move might seem obvious: build a plane using Western technology, learn from it, and make the next using your own. This is of course the case. China knew it was far behind with jet engines, and the only reasonable way to join the race was to begin by learning from Western products. Needless to say, this strategy was not invented in China. It has been used by almost all countries during their developing stage (in the 1950s, “Made in Japan” was considered the cheap copy).

But, even if they do get engines to learn from. Can they manage to make their own? It's not that easy. Let's start from the beginning.

 

https://turbli.com/blog/why-is-it-so-hard-for-china-to-develop-jet-engines/

Contrary to popular belief, it  may be easier for latecomers to catch-up with new technologies than with established ones, because of the accumulated experience and know-how of incumbents. In particular about design and production processes. They can do some reverse engineering, but can hardly reproduce those processes because they are complex, based on experience, and not observable.

 

It's easier when incumbents don't have much more experience, such as in the case of EV or 4G/5G technologies.

[SLOWHAND225]

15 minutes ago, candide said:

Contrary to popular belief, it  may be easier for latecomers to catch-up with new technologies than with established ones, because of the accumulated experience and know-how of incumbents. In particular about design and production processes. They can do some reverse engineering, but can hardly reproduce those processes because they are complex, based on experience, and not observable.

 

It's easier when incumbents don't have much more experience, such as in the case of EV or 4G/5G technologies.

Say wut ? They have some of the most bad "blank" machining centers in the world and the personnel to go with them. They are also masters of reverse engineering and you can't do that without the ability to "see" the order of operations, including having to them, out of order.
 

There are 12 axis heavy machines on the market now, its insane what they can do. The Space programs have made manufacturing into a thing of dreams

[candide]

28 minutes ago, SLOWHAND225 said:

Say wut ? They have some of the most bad "blank" machining centers in the world and the personnel to go with them. They are also masters of reverse engineering and you can't do that without the ability to "see" the order of operations, including having to them, out of order.
 

There are 12 axis heavy machines on the market now, its insane what they can do. The Space programs have made manufacturing into a thing of dreams

Says the article specifically, and the literature on technological catching-up in general, since. Perez, C., Soete, L., 1988. Catching-up in technology: entry barriers and windows of opportunity.

 

Of course, if China decides to invest in it, it's only a question of time before they catch-up. The added difficulty is that while a faulty car engine may generally just stop the car, an airplane may fall. So beta testing is a bit difficult to manage.

[Hummin]

22 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

China is the world's manufacturing hub.

 

But can it produce jet engines for aviation? After many years of development, the first Chinese airliner finally entered into service in 2022: the Comac C919. However, the Comac was almost entirely constructed using Western technology, engines included.

For many, this move might seem obvious: build a plane using Western technology, learn from it, and make the next using your own. This is of course the case. China knew it was far behind with jet engines, and the only reasonable way to join the race was to begin by learning from Western products. Needless to say, this strategy was not invented in China. It has been used by almost all countries during their developing stage (in the 1950s, “Made in Japan” was considered the cheap copy).

But, even if they do get engines to learn from. Can they manage to make their own? It's not that easy. Let's start from the beginning.

 

https://turbli.com/blog/why-is-it-so-hard-for-china-to-develop-jet-engines/

From the very beginning, we are all copy cats, but when someone have some breakthrough, and makes cheaper tech and reliable delivery, the rest getting  lazy. Until, they are forced to start and using resources themselves, they ending up making things better than original.

 

Where did the world get the jet engine blue prints from in the first? The nazis! Then go and figure the rest

[rabas]

It's correct to say China's high-end jet engine industry is still well behind the rest of the world. There are many kinds of jet engines, ones used in commercial aircraft are called high bypass turbo fans.  According to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_aircraft_engines]  (bottom box) China has few if any finished products currently in use. Whereas the West has been making these engines for decades. 

 

Many of China's early jet engines used for fighters were derived from Soviet technology or licensed. Commercial high bypass turbo fans are a big technology, materials, and manufacturing challenge because they must be powerful, very efficient, very quiet, and extremely reliable. If the next generation engine is 10% more efficient, the last generation is no longer useful.

[rabas]

29 minutes ago, Hummin said:

From the very beginning, we are all copy cats, but when someone have some breakthrough, and makes cheaper tech and reliable delivery, the rest getting  lazy. Until, they are forced to start and using resources themselves, they ending up making things better than original.

 

Where did the world get the jet engine blue prints from in the first? The nazis! Then go and figure the rest

 

Well, the jet engine was actually invented and patented in England by Frank Whittle in 1930. The Germans later came up with the same idea in the mid 1930s and developed it rapidly  going into WW2. 

[Hummin]

1 minute ago, rabas said:

 

Well, the jet engine was actually invented and patented in England by Frank Whittle in 1930. The Germans later came up with the same idea in the mid 1930s and developed it rapidly  going into WW2. 

The first patent was from a french in 21 if Im not mistaken and totally forgot my earlier knownledge. Need to google

[Hummin]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

The first patent was from a french in 21 if Im not mistaken and totally forgot my earlier knownledge. Need to google

wiki

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_jet_engine

[Hummin]

And 

 

Maxime Guillaume. In aerospace, Maxime Guillaume (born 1888) was an agricultural engineer who filed a French patent for a turbojet engine in 1921. The first patent for using a gas turbine to power an aircraft was filed in 1921 by Guillaume. ," French patent no. 534,801 (filed: 3 May 1921; 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxime_Guillaume

[Patong2021]

China is building jet engines. Its new military aircraft are using them. The priority is military use  engines not civilian equipment. China just gave a demonstration of its  state of the art military equipment in the recent  Pakistan-India  clash. It looks like the Pakistanis were so effective, that India had to back down. India lost multiple combat aircraft, including its advanced French-made Rafale fighters, a Russian-made Su-30 MKI and MiG-29, and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Kashmir. The exchanges  demonstrated  the effectiveness of China’s fighter and missile technology over its Western and Russian counterparts. The assumptions that China is backward  or has been left behind in capability is typical western culture arrogance. The Chinese are far more advanced  than westerners know or wish to accept.

[rabas]

11 minutes ago, Hummin said:

The first patent was from a french in 21 if Im not mistaken and totally forgot my earlier knownledge. Need to google

 

But all is mute, from your link!   Jet engines can be dated back to the invention of the aeolipile around 150 BC. This device used steam power directed through two nozzles so as to cause a sphere to spin rapidly on its axis.

 

Which is impressive as far as ideas go.

[Hummin]

28 minutes ago, rabas said:

 

But all is mute, from your link!   Jet engines can be dated back to the invention of the aeolipile around 150 BC. This device used steam power directed through two nozzles so as to cause a sphere to spin rapidly on its axis.

 

Which is impressive as far as ideas go.

Well, Leonardo da Vinci and Einstein ha many ideas which could not be realized long time after they where gone. 

[Cameroni]

On 5/12/2025 at 4:04 PM, 3NUMBAS said:

China knew it was far behind with jet engines,

 

Bit like the US and UK when they stole and copied the German's jet engine engineers and designs.

 

The Germans of course having been the ones who produced the world's first turbojet-powered aircraft to fly, the The He 178.

 

That was the real breakthrough. All that went before was just foreplay.

[Magictoad]

A non subject of zero interest to anybody.

[proton]

The last things China invented were gunpowder and paper money

[Hummin]

1 hour ago, proton said:

The last things China invented were gunpowder and paper money

Gneration 4 nuclear reactor? Who made the first one? 

[Hummin]

1 hour ago, proton said:

The last things China invented were gunpowder and paper money

Fastest train in world? 

Commercial and still testing?

[proton]

52 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Fastest train in world? 

Commercial and still testing?

 

Stolen designs

[Enoon]

5 hours ago, rabas said:

 

Well, the jet engine was actually invented and patented in England by Frank Whittle in 1930. The Germans later came up with the same idea in the mid 1930s and developed it rapidly  going into WW2. 

 

Frank Whittle and Fritz von Ohain.......progenitors of the turbojet:

 

 

"At first upset because he believed von Ohain had only developed his engine after seeing Whittle's patent, he eventually became convinced that von Ohain's development really was his own. The two became good friends, and often toured the US giving talks together. In 1991 von Ohain and Whittle were awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize for their work on turbojet engines."

 

https://www.solarnavigator.net/inventors/frank_whittle.htm