A Republic of Congo airlines MA60 aircraft madeits inaugural commercial flight from Brazzaville to Djambala in August to much fanfare. The Chinese-made turbo prop powered airliner, mainly used for regional flights, is exported by AVIC International Holding Corp (AVIC International), a Chinese company with its eyes firmly set on the African market.

AVIC International, which was established over 30 years ago, has placed much emphasis on its growing business ties with Africa. Over the last three decades, Africa has become one of the key markets for AVIC International, according to Liu Jun, Vice General Manager of AVIC International.

"AVIC International has always attached great importance to the African market. It has already made progress in expanding aircraft sales to the continent since the 1980s, asChina has built increasingly strong economic ties with Africa," Liu toldChinAfrica.

Key player

AVIC International has played a leading role inChina's import and export of civil aviation products and services, with its core business areas including aviation trade, international cooperation, global sourcing, subcontracting and bidding services.

 So far, the company has over 100 overseas offices in more than 40 countries and regions. It employs more than 70,000 employees, and conducts business in 180 countries and regions. It has assets of over 100 billion yuan ($16.3 billion) and an accumulated import and export trade volume exceeding $60 billion.

AVIC International has always been committed to promoting and developing Africa's aviation industry. For more than 30 years, the company has exported over 400 Chinese-made aircraft to Africa.

"Most parts of Africa remain underdeveloped in the transport sector, which largely limits African businesses cooperation with their Chinese counterparts as well as Africa's future development," Liu said. "We are willing to build an 'aerial Tanzania-Zambia railway,' so as to make substantial efforts to improve the current aviation situation in Africa."

AVIC International has now exported China-made aircraft to many African countries includingZimbabwe,Senegal,Kenya,Mauritania,Tanzania, andMali. To provide better service and assure advanced dispatches and safety, AVIC International has established a full-area coverage after-sales service network which consists of representative offices and overseas companies in 14 African countries, including a regional technical support service center inZambia.

Diversification strategy

When speaking about his company's diversified development strategy, Liu said, "in recent years, the demand for infrastructure in Africa has been driven by its rapid development. AVIC is also dedicated to helping the African nations improve their infrastructures construction." He added that the projects the company is now undertaking includeNairobiairport expansion and the construction of a new airport, and transformation of transportation systems inLusaka, the capital city ofZambia. AVIC International is also responsible for the road construction projects in westZambialeading toAngola. The roads there have been damaged by river flooding, but AVIC International will complete the road reconstruction in 2014.

In addition, AVIC International also spearheaded various other projects. AVIC International built up a modernized B747 steel structure maintenance hangar for Ethiopian Airlines, which was 32 meters high and 90 meters long. The maintenance facility was put into operation in 2006, and gained a great reputation due to the high quality. The company also established the Chinese brand "JIEFANG" truck, "YUEJIN" light vehicle assembly line inTanzania.

Besides, AVIC International built other projects, including beachfront apartments, TBA Dodoma apartment inTanzania, and undertook bridge and apartment construction inAlgeria. About 300,000 patients have been treated in the mobile hospital that AVIC International provided inZambia. 

Explaining how a Chinese company has become a key partner for African infrastructure projects, Liu said, "the Chinese companies outbid foreign competitors with their high efficiency and low cost. Besides, Chinese enterprises [in Africa] get full support from the Chinese Government. All above factors contribute to the market demand in Africa."

Localization in Africa

Apart from a diversified development strategy, localization is AVIC International's key to success in Africa. In AVIC International's offices in Africa, locals account for about 20 percent of the total management personnel, while nearly all of the workers are locals, according to Liu. Local employment is crucial in African countries, he said.

Chinese enterprises have shouldered a wide range of social responsibilities in Africa. Likewise, one of the important social responsibilities for AVIC International is to train professionals and technical personnel and offer vocational skills training. "The export from AVIC International to Africa was not merely machinery, but the transfer of technology. We pay more attention to train professional and technical personnel at the local level and help improve the local economy. For example, we teach locals how to grow, store, and process grains, as well as how to repair and drive the vehicles," Liu toldChinAfrica.

In addition, AVIC International provides mobile hospitals and vocational education training projects toKenyaandZambia, which enhance local medical standards and educational accessibility. TakeKenyafor example. AVIC International provided a training session to Kenyan youth service teams, in order to promote their technical level. The vocational training program inKenyaaims at training about 10,000 young technicians per year. It will boost the local economy and lower high unemployment so as to benefit local people in the long run, according to Liu.

AVIC is a pioneer in exploring overseas markets, and wants to become a multinational enterprise. Yet, Liu believes that Chinese enterprises still have a long way to go before succeeding in overseas markets, because they lack the required understanding of the market rules, technology, capital, brand, personnel and culture. "In the process of going global, every Chinese enterprise venturing abroad must get familiar with the elements of international marketing environment; in this way, we can truly say it is going global. This is especially important for Chinese companies that would like to tap into African markets," he said.