A pilot assigned to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command climbs into the cockpit of his J-10 fighter jet during a flight training exercise on October 11, 2021. Photo:China Military

The Chinese aviation industry is wrapping up the warplane production and test flight work scheduled for 2021 in the last week of the year, with many companies already finishing their missions while others are making their final runs.

Despite challenges including occasional COVID-19 outbreaks, the high quality and quantity of the aircraft will meet the demands of the aviation forces of all Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) branches, analysts said on Sunday.

With the last warplane landing on the runway at the test flight station of Shenyang Aircraft Corporation under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) on December 15, the Shenyang company wrapped up the year's production and test flight missions 16 days before the year ends, and the number of aircraft the company produced and delivered this year broke a record, AVIC revealed in a statement released on its social media account on Friday.

The Shenyang-based company builds the J-15 aircraft carrier-based fighter jet and the J-16 multirole fighter jet. It is also responsible for the development of the FC-31 stealth fighter jet.

A heavily upgraded version of the J-15 was recently revealed by the Shenyang company, and the electronic warfare variant of the J-16, the J-16D, made its debut at the Airshow China 2021 in September.

The AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd, which produces helicopters including the Z-10 attack helicopter and the Z-8 transport helicopter, also finished production and delivery missions on December 15, AVIC said in the statement.

A photo attached to the statement shows the test flight of a variant of the Z-8, namely the Z-8C, a type of ship-borne transport chopper seen deployed on the PLA Navy's newly commissioned Type 075 amphibious assault ship.

The maker of the Y-20 large transport aircraft, the AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group Company Ltd, completed the last batch of test flight on Wednesday, nine days before the end of the year, AVIC said.

Tang Changhong, chief designer of the Y-20, revealed at the Airshow China 2021 that the aircraft undertook flight tests with two types of domestically developed engines at the time.

An aerial tanker variant of the Y-20 was also spotted in a drill near the island of Taiwan for the first time in November.

AVIC Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Co Ltd, which makes the Z-20 utility helicopter and the Z-9/19 series helicopter, wrapped up 2021's production and test flight missions on Friday, setting a new record in the number of aircraft delivered despite the negative impact of COVID-19, AVIC announced in the statement.

Known as the maker of the J-20 stealth fighter jet and the J-10 fighter jet, AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group Co Ltd revealed on December 10 in a social media post that the company recently broke records in terms of aircraft delivery due to high demand, and it was striving to wrap up the year 2021.

AVIC Shaanxi Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd, the producer of a wide variety of special mission aircraft including the KJ-500 early warning aircraft and the Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, is making the final run to complete the annual delivery goal despite the ongoing severe COVID-19 epidemic, the company said on its social media account on Friday.

Other AVIC branches are also on their ways to finish production, and good news will come within days, AVIC said.

At a time when the PLA Army is striving to build a powerful aerial assault force with advanced helicopters, the PLA Navy is preparing vessel-based fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters for its aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and the PLA Air Force is eyeing to further build a strategic force, China's aviation industry is playing an important role by satisfying these high demands, a Beijing-based military expert told the Global Times on Sunday, requesting anonymity.