The news just keeps on coming.
“China’s homegrown C909 aircraft has safely transported more than 30 million passengers, with a total of 175 aircraft delivered to date, accounting for 60 percent of China’s regional jet market, and it is also operating in 12 countries overseas, reported the People’s Daily on Monday, citing data from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. …”
People might justifiably smile at the label “homegrown” – but the fact remains that China is making rapid progress in the last area where the West has (had?) a technological lead.
Twenty five years ago, few would have predicted that China would become the world’s largest steel producer, or that China would be outproducing the US in ships by two orders of magnitude, or that China would be outstripping Germany & Japan in automobile manufacturing. But here we are!
If the West does not pull up its socks soon … well, history tells us what happens to technologically-backward areas.