Cirrus aircraft has been sold to China. Continental Engines has been sold to China. I have no doubt that other aviation businesses will meet the same fate. I also have no doubt these businesses will migrate to China as well, despite promises that it will be "business as usual".
My personal opinion, knowing a little about the business of manufacturing aircraft bits, is that they are going to get into trouble due to the Chinese temperament and culture.
While China is capable of producing goods of superb quality, it requires very direct personal motivation to make it happen. If this is lacking, then the normal Chinese lack of loyalty to anyone who is not "family" asserts itself. This is why such scandals as the Melamine in baby formula occurred - there is no duty of care to anyone who isn't a relative. This is also why the Chinese Government is terrified of losing control, but that is another matter.
What concerns me here is not Cirrus itself, it is their eventual Chinese suppliers, and their suppliers to their suppliers and so on. The requirements for materials traceability, quality control and actual batch acceptance testing on everything that makes up an aircraft are onerous. If anyone doesn't believe me, simply do some digging on the Internet and look up the standards, say for an NAS bolt for example.
It only takes the failure of one supplier far down the supply chain to destroy Cirrus as a brand. By way of example, I'm aware of one company that made power adjustable seats for Ford. The company was sent bankrupt after its Chinese supplier of moulded Acetal gears used substandard Acetal resin, causing the gears and thus the seat mechanism to fail after only a few hours of use.
The temptations in the West to use unapproved and counterfeit aircraft parts have been shown to be great. In the East they will be irresistible. The only thing that could save the situation is an extremely well funded and resourced Chinese regulator armed with draconian powers, up to and including the death penalty.
Avweb newsletter:
Cirrus Industries Inc., parent company of Cirrus Aircraft, has been sold to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co.(CAIGA) of Zuhai, China but it appears the company will continue to build parts in Grand Forks, ND and assemble airplanes in Duluth, MN. It has long been rumored that a Chinese company would acquire Cirrus and the final announcement was made Monday morning. CAIGA is a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC), the state-owned aviation company of China that makes everything from military jets to airliners. In a news release, Cirrus CEO Brent Wouters says the deal will be a shot in the arm for the company and for its employees in Grand Forks and Duluth. "CAIGA understands the strength and the talent of Cirrus's workforce and the prominence of the Cirrus brand in general aviation," Wouters said. "Through this transaction, CAIGA will invest in our employees in both Minnesota and North Dakota by committing to the continued use of our world-class production facilities."