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HISTORY
Republic of China
Hongdu's predecessor was
the Sino-Italian National
Aircraft Works (SINAW),
established in December 1934
in Nanchang. It was a joint
venture between the Republic
of China and the Kingdom of
Italy, after Chiang
Kai-shek signed an agreement
with Italian Prime Minister Benito
Mussolini a
year before. In 1935,
factories were built
at Qingyunpu Airport (then
known as Sanjiadian)
and Laoyingfang Airport Song
Ziliang (T. L. Soong) served
as the first chairman, and
an Italian served as general
manager.
After the outbreak of
the Second Sino-Japanese
War in 1937, SINAW factories
were severely damaged by
Japanese aerial bombing When
the Chinese government
discovered that Italians
served as guides for
Japanese pilots, it broke
off its relationship with
Italy, and all Italian
employees left the company
by the end of the year, with
300 Chinese employees
remaining. On 9 December
1937, Chiang Kai-shek
confiscated Italian shares
and properties and renamed
the company Central Nanchang
Aircraft Manufacturing
Factory. To evade Japanese
attacks, it was relocated
to Nanchuan, Chongqing, and
was renamed No. 2 Aircraft
Manufacturing Factory.
After the end of the war,
the company was moved back
to Sanjiadian Airport in
Nanchang in 1947.
People's Republic of
China
After the founding of
the People's Republic of
China in 1949, the company
was re-established in 1951
as the state-run Hongdu
Machinery-building
Factory and later
as Nanchang Aircraft
Manufacturing Corporation. In
March 1998 the company's
name was changed to Hongdu
Aviation Industry (Group)
Corporation.
Since its founding, Hongdu
used Qingyunpu Airport for
test flights. On 23 December
2009, the Jiangxi provincial
government reached an
agreement with Aviation
Industry Corporation of
China to build the
new Nanchang Yaohu
Airport in the Nanchang
Aviation Industrial City to
replace Qingyunpu Airport.
Construction began in
November 2016, and Yaohu
Airport was opened on 16
August 2018.
Source:
Wikipedia
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