June 22 – The 3rd Council Meeting of the Institute of International Civil Aviation (IICA), jointly established by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), was convened at Haoran Science & Technology Building on the Xuhui Campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Ding Kuiling, President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; He Dongfeng, Party Secretary and Chairman of COMAC; Liu Fang, Member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, former Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and former Member of the Party Leadership Group of the Civil Aviation Administration of China; Tan Wangeng, Chairman of the Council of IICA; and Hu Weiwei, Deputy Party Secretary of SJTU, attended the meeting. Participants included heads of relevant departments and schools of SJTU, namely the Office of Liberal Arts Development, Graduate School, Antai College of Economics and Management and School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, persons-in-charge of relevant departments and entities of COMAC, as well as leaders from Civil Aviation University of China, Civil Aviation Flight University of China and China Civil Aviation Management Institute. The meeting was chaired by Gu Feng, Full-time Deputy Director of the University Council of SJTU.
Jiang Wenning, Executive Dean of IICA and Party Secretary of Antai College of Economics and Management of SJTU, delivered a summary report on the Institute’s work in 2025 and its work plan for 2026. He elaborated on the annual priorities and development roadmap of the Institute. Moving forward, IICA will focus on core tasks including developing the new programme in intelligent aviation management, integrating forums and training programmes, identifying new research directions, and conducting admissions and training for degree programmes. Upholding its mission of “Global Orientation, Serving Large Aircraft Development”, the Institute will forge ahead amid practice and challenges.
Tang Yanhua, Executive Dean of IICA and Executive Vice President of COMAC University, presented the Institute’s business implementation plan and budget for 2026.
Professor Wang Fuxin from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Professor Ge Dongdong from Antai College of Economics and Management respectively presented the outcomes of two IICA research projects completed in 2025: Research on the Current Status and Development Strategy of Technical Standards for Electric Aircraft Airworthiness Certification, and Research on Retrieval-Augmented Generation Algorithms for Large Models in Complex Data Scenarios.
During the open discussion session, participants held in-depth exchanges on the Institute’s key tasks and development directions. Ding Shuting, President of Civil Aviation University of China; Ma Jianxin, Member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Civil Aviation Flight University of China; and Zhang Jing, Deputy Party Secretary and Chair of the Trade Union of China Civil Aviation Management Institute, put forward suggestions on behalf of the three council member institutions. Representatives from relevant departments and schools of COMAC and SJTU also shared their views. The meeting voted to adopt the 2026 business implementation plan of the Institute of International Civil Aviation (IICA).
In his closing remarks, Ding Kuiling commended the achievements of IICA and expressed gratitude to all parties for their support. He put forward three requirements: first, to serve national strategies by focusing on electric aviation, intelligent algorithms, airworthiness certification and other fields to support the global deployment of China’s home-grown large aircraft; second, to deepen industry-university-research integration, improve the mechanism of “enterprises raising research topics, universities delivering solutions through joint research”, and cultivate interdisciplinary civil aviation talents; third, to strengthen institutional development of the Institute, break boundaries between disciplines and schools, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, and build an innovative collaborative model.
He Dongfeng thanked SJTU and all cooperating institutions for their support and recognized the Institute’s exploration achievements over the past two years. He noted three priorities for future work: pooling resources to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and deliver high-priority initiatives; advancing the global market expansion of large aircraft, developing independent standards and specifications and innovating business models; persisting in independent sci-tech innovation and talent development, enhancing teaching, training and academic research capabilities, building IICA into a high-quality platform for cooperation and exchanges, and fostering it into an internationally renowned brand.
As a special guest, Liu Fang remarked that IICA represents an innovative model built through the powerful partnership between SJTU and COMAC. Looking ahead, the Institute should elevate its international influence, share China’s experience, standards and practices in civil aviation, and actively participate in the formulation of international standards. It shall cultivate international partners for China’s large aircraft programmes and promote model innovation in the civil aviation sector. Ultimately, IICA will be developed into a high-end international platform for civil aviation exchanges featuring innovation, openness, cooperation and sharing.