Aviation industry gets landmark 8-year road map

China's top industrial regulator Thursday unveiled an eight-year outline for the civil aviation industry until 2020, aiming to break the monopolization of the two giants in one of the most dynamic markets in the world.

According to the announcement posted on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the plan seeks to increase domestic airplanes' market share to 5 percent by 2020, and bring the annual income of civil aviation industry above 100 billion yuan ($16.3 billion).

It is the first nation-level civil aviation industry development plan since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Civil airplane manufacturers saw a rise in share prices Thursday. Shenzhen-listed AVIC Aircraft Co had a 2.83 percent surge in share price to 11.63 yuan while Shanghai-listed Harbin Aircraft Industry Croup Co's share price rose 0.6 percent to 26.61 yuan at the closing time, outperforming the 1.16 percent fall of the Shanghai Composite Index.

"The outline has created a sound environment to develop the aviation industry," Li Xiaojin, a professor from the Civil Aviation University of China, told the Global Times Thursday, adding the nation is injecting big money and human resources into bolstering the development of civil aviation.

According to the plan, during this timeframe, the C919, the single-aisle plane of 168 seats, will finish its R&D, production and delivery. The ARJ21 and Xinzhou family regional jet will go through industrialization, while large-scale progress is being targeted in China's efforts to build a large aircraft engine of its own.

China started the C919 project in 2008. The plane manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd (COMAC), plans to hold the maiden flight in 2014, and deliver it in 2016.

However, insiders worry whether the C919 will still be an attractive option by then, as the plane faces rival models such as the Boeing 737MAX and the A320neo from Airbus, and the two giants have dominated the Chinese aviation market for years.

So far, the C919 has received 380 orders from clients including Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, compared with the global order of 1,315 for the 737MAX, to be delivered in 2017, and 2,125 orders from 40 clients for the A320neo, to be delivered in 2015.

Last month, Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier said in Beijing that he knew Airbus would have more competitors, including the COMAC, but said Airbus would be ready and that the competition would be good for clients.