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Frank Chen

A female engineer who graduated from a Chinese university subjected to US sanctions and started out designing air defence systems is now steering the C929 programme aimed at producing a home-grown airliner as advanced and spacious as the widebodies made by Boeing and Airbus.
Having left her mark on China’s decades-long endeavour to launch the C909 and C919 regional and narrowbody models, Zhao Chunling has been lead designer for the ambitious widebody jet programme since 2023 as Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) attempts to play catch-up with the Western duopoly.
Zhao graduated from Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, in 1991.
The university is frequently included on United States sanctions lists for its close ties to China’s military, with staff and students banned from buying or using American technology, including mathematical software.
Despite the sanctions, NPU has taken part in the development of numerous weapons, including powerful fighter jets.
But Zhao’s career flight path did not lead to civil aviation engineering immediately after graduation in 1991.
She instead joined an optoelectronics research institute in Luoyang, Henan province, that is an affiliate of aerospace and defence juggernaut Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
Her 18 years there saw the transformation of the institute into a key research and development node for defence technologies, including aviation propulsion control and command technology, according to publicly available information in China. She also rose through the ranks to become the institute’s deputy chief designer.
The Luoyang institute produces electro-optical sensors and pods, which unmanned aerial vehicles and other aircraft use for reconnaissance and surveillance. It also produces head-up displays, including the one used in the C919, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Zhao joined Comac in 2009, just a year after it was established in Shanghai to realise China’s sky-high planemaking ambitions.


A Xinhua report last month said Zhao was involved in the design, test flights and domestic certification of the C909 and C919. Specifically, she was responsible for the C909’s avionics systems and a novel cockpit dashboard design that featured a dark, quiet environment to help pilots better concentrate and respond to emergencies.
For the C919, which is aiming to take market share from Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320, Zhao spearheaded the design of a new display and crew alert system arguably more advanced than those in the bestselling Western plans, according to a Comac document.
She led a team of more than 100 technicians that worked around the clock during the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 to benchmark the performance of the C919 against international standards to weed out design and manufacturing defects.
The C919 took to the skies on its maiden commercial flight in May 2023.
As the C929’s lead designer, Zhao and her team have finished the overall design of China’s first widebody model, state media revealed last month.
The C929 will carry up to 440 people and have a range of 12,000km – roughly the distance from Shanghai to New York. Prototypes are under development and domestic suppliers are reportedly due to start shipping some large components, including the first fuselage middle section, in 2027.
“Appointing a veteran technician as the C929 chief reflects Comac’s consideration of a smooth transition of talent and resources to expedite the design and development of a Chinese answer to lucrative Western twin-aisle models like the 787 Dreamliner,” a source close to the planemaker said. “The many designs and experience gained from developing smaller models can be readily applied to the C929.”
At a sharing session with science, technology, engineering and mathematics students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in December, Zhao gave a preview of the C929.
“It will feature excellent aerodynamic design and fuel efficiency, advanced fly-by-wire flight control that takes into account the most extreme weather conditions as well as smart cabin design to give passengers a better flight experience,” she said.
“But I also must bear in mind the commercial viability and profitability of the new model as we aim to sell a lot of units at home and abroad.”


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China airliners

Female engineer leads China’s challenge to Boeing and Airbus widebody airliners

Zhao Chunling, the chief designer of China’s home-grown widebody C929 aircraft. Photo: Xinhua

Zhao Chunling points out features of the C929’s cockpit inside a mock-up at a Comac research institute in Shanghai, on March 5. Photo: Xinhua

China’s widebody C929 ambitions could be lifted by US, European plane-part giants

A prototype of China’s planned C929 passenger jet is seen here displayed in Shanghai earlier this year. Photo: Getty Images

Visitors look at models of China’s domestically made passenger jets, the C919 and the planned C929, at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on November 5. Photo: AFP

China’s widebody C929 jet lands first buyer at top-flight Zhuhai air show

China’s Comac brought several of its planes to the Zhuhai air show, including the renamed C909. Photo: Frank Chen

Here are China’s 4 commercial jets, from the ARJ21 and C919 to the jumbo C929 and C939

China’s C919 plane debuted in May 2023 as part of China Eastern Airlines fleet. Photo: Weibo

China’s C919 passenger jet debuted in May 2023 as part of China Eastern Airlines fleet. Photo: CAAC

China’s C919 (left) and ARJ21 passenger jets are seen parked at Van Don International Airport in Vietnam earlier this year. Photo: Facebook/Van Don International Airport

A prototype of China’s C929 passenger jet is displayed in March at Comac’s Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute. Photo: Getty Images

China rallies aviation brainpower to get widebody C929 off the ground, amp up Airbus and Boeing competition

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats and a range of 12,000km (7,456 miles), according to Comac. Photo: AFP

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats and a range of 12,000km (7,456 miles), according to Comac. Photo: Xinhau

China’s home-grown C929 widebody passenger jet enters ‘crucial’ development stage amid Beijing’s aviation push

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats and a range of 12,000km (7,456 miles), according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac). Photo: AFP

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats and a range of 12,000km (7,456 miles), according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac). Photo: Getty Images

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Aerospace

Zhao Chunling has been lead designer for ambitious programme aimed at challenging Western duopoly since 2023


Zhao Chunling has been lead designer for ambitious programme aimed at challenging Western duopoly since 2023.


Aviation

China’s C919 passenger plane

Comac

China economy