Understanding the deregulation of the Chinese aviation industry : the 2002 restructuring and its impact

Abstract

The development of the Chinese aviation industry is indeed a compelling academic topic, in particular, the extensive introduction of deregulation into the Chinese aviation industry after the Opening-up policy. This paper obtained data from the period of 2000-2018, for reflecting the latest development of the Chinese airline industry before and after the government-driven reform since 2002. Besides, the data was sourced from a wide range of origin, including but not limited to the Annual Report of different airlines, Fortune China 500 (Chinese Version), CEIC Data, the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) and CAAC. Contrary to what has often been expected, the application of deregulation into the Chinese aviation industry didn’t bring about a substantial amount of skilled foreign players who are getting involved into the Chinese aviation market, rather it witnessed a confined foreign involvement in the Chinese aviation industry, and more importantly there is a formidable presence of the Chinese players. In addition, the result indicated that the Chinese aviation industry has still been principally national, but moving into more international with a sluggish speed. Furthermore, the outcomes of this dissertation are also anticipated to facilitate the continuous discussion in the areas, and it undoubtedly grants a valuable opportunity for interested parties to get knowledge about this matter, specifically the Chinese government and the academics.