Unmanned aircraft sector set for takeoff

Shandong Mining Machinery Group, one of China's largest coal mining machinery manufacturers, admitted Monday that it is looking into the market for unmanned aircraft, in line with previous media speculation that sent its shares skyrocketing during last week.

The company has conducted primary research and initial manufacturing with regard to unmanned aircraft engine technologies and products, and the pilot production of a small experimental turbojet engine has already been finished, it said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Monday, noting that the company is not yet ready for mass production.

A statement posted on the website of the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province on October 23 revealed that the company was planning to invest 100 million yuan ($16.06 million) into unmanned aircraft engine projects.

Shares in the company rose by more than 20 percent last week before trading in its shares was temporarily suspended Friday. Trading resumed Monday, and its shares closed 5.14 percent down.

While confirming its move into unmanned aircraft manufacturing, the firm said in the filing that investment plans for the project remain uncertain.

Shandong Mining Machinery's move is the latest sign of growing investor interest in the unmanned aircraft market.

Hunan-based Sunward Intelligent Equipment Co, a construction machinery maker, announced Saturday it would raise its stake in Sunward Tech, which makes unmanned helicopters.

A number of unmanned aircraft models were also showcased at the 9th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong earlier this month, mostly for military use, an indication of the country's growing focus on this area, experts said.

"The country already has the technologies (for unmanned aircraft), and the foundations for the civil use of unmanned aircraft," Chen Jie, an industry insider who has been in the civil aviation sector for more than 20 years, told the Global Times Monday. The area has "huge growth potential," Chen noted.