Focusing on In-depth Integration of Four Chains for Civil Aviation and Unveiling Multiple Independent R&D Achievements

     April 26,2024-On April 26, Conference on Four Chain Integration Innovation & Development of China Civil Aviation and China Southern Groups First Scientific and Technological Innovation Conference, hosted by China Air Transport Association (CATA) and China Southern Group and organized by Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. and Zhuhai Xiang Yi Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Zhuhai Xiang Yi), was held in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Nearly 300 experts, scholars, and representatives from civil aviation authorities, enterprises, universities, research institutes, and financial institutions attended the event.

      At the conference, China Southern officially launched its high-level simulator with Chinese characteristics for the first time and co-launched the self-developed high-level visual system products with Tencent. This conference aims to promote the in-depth integration of the industrial chain, innovation chain, capital chain, and talent chain of the civil aviation industry, deepen exchanges on scientific and technological innovation within the industry, promote the development of scientific and technological innovation in China Southern, and inject new vitality into the prosperity and development of civil aviation.

      Han Wensheng said in his speech that under the leadership of SASAC and CAAC and with the support of partners in the scientific and technological innovation ecosystem, China Southern has been taking the innovation chain as the core, giving full play to the driving role of the industrial chain, and promoting the optimal allocation of capital chain and talent chain. He hoped that through this conference, China Southern Group would discuss with government officials, entrepreneurs, experts, and scholars to further promote the integration of the four chains in civil aviation.

     In the morning, the keynote speech session focused on the trend of scientific and technological innovation development and the deep integration of the four chains in civil aviation. Yang Yuanyuan, former Administrator of CAAC, Xiang Jinwu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Jing Gongbin, Chairman of China Southern Air Capital Holding Limited, and Chen Guokai, Dean of Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institute, and other experts were invited to share their views as speakers. These experts stressed the importance of deep integration of the four chains in developing new quality productive forces in civil aviation and deeply analyzed the characteristics and interaction mechanism of the industrial chain, innovation chain, capital chain, and talent chain in the civil aviation industry.

     At this conference, the high-level simulator with Chinese characteristics and the self-developed high-level visual system products were officially unveiled.Developed by Zhuhai Xiang Yi, the A320NEO full-flight simulator is the first self-developed full-flight simulator based on the flight training system with Chinese characteristics. It has successfully passed the appraisal of CAAC on January 2, 2024, reaching the level of similar mainstream products globally in general. This marks the beginning of Chinese flight training centers’ R&D of full-flight simulators, and it is also the first highly customized product series based on the characteristics of China’s pilot training.The domestic self-developed high-level visual system products include a visual system jointly developed by Zhuhai Xiang Yi and Tencent, and the "Wing View" virtual image display system independently developed by Zhuhai Xiang Yi.

     The self-developed visual system is based on self-developed game engines, providing a 1:1 real aircraft simulation experience and rendered world scenery images from a first-person perspective for the training and recurrent training of civil aviation pilots. This product passed the highest certification level of CAAC’s CCAR-60 (China Civil Aviation Regulations Part 60) on December 29, 2023. Thanks to the self-developed core technologies such as optical path design, integrated rear projection screen, and polyester film high-precision control, the "Wing View" virtual image display system becomes the first homemade product of its kind. By presenting an ultra-wide visual imaging with an infinite depth of field, it’s able to offer pilots flight scenes with high fidelity in flight training. This product was successfully applied to civil aviation simulators in 2023.

     Zhuhai Xiang Yi will continue to give full play to its advantages in platform and innovation, aiming at solving practical problems in the civil aviation industry. It will keep increasing R&D efforts in flight safety prevention and control, flight big data application, flight simulation and visual simulation, etc., continuously iterate and upgrade existing products, create high-tech products with Chinese characteristics and industrial competitiveness, so as to make new and greater contributions to enhancing the civil aviation power of China and the high-quality development of the company.

     At the conference, mutilple awards of China Southern Innovation Challenge were presented, and China Southern teams receiving awards from industry organizations were honored. China Southern Innovation Challenge is held once every two years. In the third contest, successfully held in 2023, a total of 267 project applications were received from 55 teams of enterprises, public institutions, universities, and research institutes. These projects cover various fields such as airline safety, operation, marketing, services, and aircraft maintenance, focusing on not only business pain points but also industry development and contributing a number of high-quality and innovative solutions to China Southerns digital and intelligent development. 52 projects were awarded through the assessment by panels of business and technical experts, and 3 organizational units were praised. In recent years, the innovation strength of China Southern Group has been increasing, which has brought fruitful achievements to the company. A number of its projects have won science and technology awards from Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, CATA, and China Communications and Transportation Association. At the conference, 12 award-winning projects were commended.