Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport is a key air transport hub in South China. [Photo by Wang Huoyan/For China Daily]

After more than 20 years of development, Xiamen's aviation maintenance industry has gradually formed an important "one-stop" base in China.

After the Xiamen Area of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone was listed, the city has taken the development of the aviation maintenance industry as a key tool to enhance the competitiveness of international high-end industries and seize a place in the global aircraft maintenance market.

Through mechanism and system innovation, it has solved the bottleneck of industrial development, cultivated new momentum for industrial development and created a first-class business environment.

The business environment has promoted the steady growth of the industry into an industrial chain of tens of billions yuan. With 20 aviation maintenance industry-related companies, Xiamen has attracted world-renowned aviation companies such as Swire and Honeywell to invest in the Gaoqi Aviation Industrial Zone, forming a one-stop aviation maintenance industry structure assisted by business jet assembly, engine maintenance, department accessory manufacturing and maintenance and aviation technical training. At present, the Xiamen FTZ has built an important domestic "one-stop" aviation maintenance base, over 80 percent of which comes from the overseas maintenance business.

In 2020, there were 328 inbound and outbound maintenance aircraft, and the import and export value of bonded aviation materials for maintenance reached $2.26 billion. The volume ranks among the highest in the country.

"The Xiamen Special Economic Zone has formed regional centers of shipping, trade, and finance.

The zone has further increased innovation, created a single window for international trade and a digital smart port, which further improved our customs clearance efficiency, and optimized the business environment at ports," said Dai Bin, director of the economic development bureau of the administrative committee at the Xiamen FTZ.

In June 2020, the nation's first pilot program for the reform of professional titles in the aviation maintenance industry became the sixth batch of Xiamen experience promoted by the State Council to the whole country.

Up to now, a total of 726 people have passed the assessment of aviation maintenance titles, including 34 deputy senior engineers, 428 engineers and 264 assistant engineers.