I own a share in a Nanchang CJ6A. The sheetmetal work is absolutely outstanding with beautiful skin butt joins not a wave in any of the flat areas and perfect riveting. The mechanicals are copies of Russian designs (ie simple, but heavy and crude) again executed to a higher standard.
There is no doubt in my mind that Chinese produced Continental parts will be of equal or probably higher quality than the US sourced parts currently used,
which considering all the recent QA disasters involving US made engine components is not setting the bar very high.
IMO one of the major causes of the decline of GA, at least in Canada is the cost of certified engines. The cost of an engine overhaul for a simple entry level GA aircraft is often more than the total value of the aircraft and even if the engine has time left to overhaul the cost of parts can be crushing, and it is getting worse. For a while there were several aftermarket cylinder assemblies available. As a result cylinder prices fell by 50 % but now most have been forced out of business and cylinder prices are on there way back up.
If the takeover of Continental results in lower engine prices than I think this going to be a very positive development and if I was an exec at Lycoming I would be polishing my resume....