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Can China’s aerospace industry overcome ‘execution gap’ in modernisation goals?

Researchers have identified four challenges that could undermine Beijing’s five-year plan for a modern military by 2030

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Caroline LinPublished: 12:00pm, 25 Jul 2026

Chinese defence suppliers are hitting a wall when it comes to translating national strategic goals into effective enterprise-level actions, according to an analysis by industry insiders.

The study, published in May by the academic journal Defence Industry Conversion in China, identified four major challenges that might undermine the implementation of Beijing’s 2026-2030 plan for the national defence industry.

Authors Gao Xufeng and Wu Ke are strategic planning researchers from the Chengdu-based company Sichuan Tianao Aerospace Information Technology, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and the country’s leading exporter of aerospace and drone communication equipment.

Their analysis focused on aerospace equipment enterprises, highlighting what they described as systemic bottlenecks during the critical transition period of the 15th five-year plan, which sets the goal of building the country into a space power by 2030.

The plan identifies the aerospace industry as “an emerging pillar industry”, as Beijing anticipates that it will become a key driver of defence and economic development.

The study analysed a single enterprise, identifying shortcomings that included a gap between national policy and corporate implementation, as well as the conflict between rigid planning and fast-evolving market dynamics.

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