Contemporary Issues Shaping China’s Civil Aviation Policy : Balancing International with Domestic Priorities

The emergence of China as a future major participant in international aviation raises some interesting questions, especially from a strategic policy perspective. The progressive shift from a command to a mixed market economy under the central leadership of the Beijing administration now finds itself faced with the needs to balance a strategic duality in the context of the role of China's civil aviation industry. In a very real sense this situation requires the design and accommodation of a growing role for China's mainstream carriers within the operational context of the need to meet the complex challenges from increasing international market competition. In parallel with such major external pressures, central government must also accommodate domestic priorities with regard to internal economic development. The fruits of economic progress as a function of market reform are commonly understood to have positively reshaped the live of only a proportion of the national population to date. The need to create greater access to economic growth for the more remote western and northern provinces has required that the rapid development of airports become a factor in the planning and allocation of developmental priorities. To complicate matters further, prevailing requirements of airspace defence remain a major parameter within the larger context of national aviation policy. This book explores the political, economic and strategic issues raised by the inevitable tension between the domestic and international aspects of Beijing's current civil aviation strategy. It also seeks to identify some of the problems that face the industry as a key sector in the larger context of macroeconomic reform and the further pressures now being exerted by China's membership of the WTO. Contents......Page 6 List of Figures......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Preface......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 Introduction......Page 18 1 The Evolutionary Path of Market Reform in China 1949–2008......Page 24 2 China’s Continuing Search for an Efficient Multi-modal Transport System......Page 50 3 The Roles of Civil Aviation Industry in the Great Western Development Strategy......Page 68 4 National Administrative Reform and its Consequences for Civil Aviation......Page 84 5 The Reform and Modernization of the Domestic Airline Market......Page 100 6 The Entry by Chinese Airlines into the International Passenger Market......Page 116 7 The Growing Strategic Importance of Air Cargo Services......Page 132 8 The Golden Triangle: The Leading Edge of Chinese Aviation......Page 150 9 The National Quest for a Viable Broad Spectrum Aerospace Industry......Page 168 10 Some Organizational Problems and Competitive Market Uncertainties......Page 184 11 ASEAN, Open Skies, and the Search for New Market Opportunities......Page 200 12 Some Major Issues Shaping the Future for China’s Civil Aviation Industry......Page 216 Bibliography......Page 240 Index......Page 252 Alan Williams. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.