- New rules establish a clear regulatory pathway for overseasdisassembled aircraft parts intended for use in China -
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has formally recognised AFRA Disassembly Accreditation within a new regulatory pathway for overseas aircraft-disassembly organisations seeking to supply Used Serviceable Material (USM) intended for reuse in the Chinese aviation market.
The updated Aircraft Disassembly Advisory Circular establishes a regulatory pathway for qualifying parts recovered from end-of-service aircraft and engines outside China and intended for reuse in the Chinese USM supply chain. The Circular explicitly names AFRA and identifies the AFRA-CAAC Registry as the compliant overseas registration platform.
The Circular follows three years of cooperation between CAAC and the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA), beginning with an agreement signed in September 2023 to align aircraft-disassembly practices and AFRA Best Management Practice requirements with CAAC expectations.
China is one of the world’s largest aviation markets and has historically been difficult for overseas suppliers of dismantled USM to access because of regulatory, documentation and traceability requirements. The updated Circular provides greater clarity for overseas organisations seeking to meet those requirements and establishes a structured route for compliant material. For aircraft owners, lessors and parts suppliers, the framework provides greater clarity on the conditions under which material recovered outside China can be prepared for the Chinese regulated aviation market.
For qualifying overseas organisations, the framework establishes a defined CAAC approval pathway supported by controlled disassembly, documentation, registration and verifiable provenance. Chinese airlines, MROs and other industry users can consult the registered provenance information as part of their procurement and technical evaluation of disassembled parts.
AFRA accreditation provides a recognised qualification route into the CAAC process, while CAAC retains regulatory approval and oversight. The result is a regulator-recognised pathway linking qualifying overseas disassembly organisations with defined provenance and traceability requirements.
The new framework creates access through control rather than by removing it, with provenance and traceability forming part of the conditions for participation.
The publication represents a major implementation milestone for the CAAC-AFRA Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2023, translating three years of technical cooperation into a practical regulatory pathway for the Chinese aviation supply chain.
Brent Webb, President of AFRA, said: “How an aircraft is disassembled matters. Traceability matters. Quality systems matter. And confidence in the material that returns to service absolutely matters.”
“The revised Advisory Circular creates a pathway for applicable overseas aircraft-disassembly organizations certified to AFRA’s Best Management Practices to seek approval within the CAAC regulatory framework.”
Central to the new pathway is the AFRA-CAAC Registry, which provides a verifiable record linking the source aircraft, disassembly event, disassembly organisation and relevant component information. In practical terms, the objective is to move from provenance being asserted through fragmented documentation to provenance being recorded in a form that can be independently verified. AFRA acts as registry manager, with Block Aero Technologies operating the technology platform.
The AFRA-CAAC Registry, operated on Block Aero Technologies' blockchain-secured infrastructure, is interfaced with China’s CAMAC public-information infrastructure, enabling Chinese users to verify recorded provenance as part of their evaluation of disassembled parts. The system is designed to create a tamper-evident digital record that preserves the provenance information established at the time of disassembly. The registry supports provenance and traceability; it does not establish airworthiness, and components generally remain subject to the appropriate approved maintenance, technical evaluation and release processes before return to service.
The approach also supports the safe reuse of serviceable components from end-of-service aircraft and reflects China’s broader circular-economy policy. It brings together regulatory oversight, traceability and resource efficiency while maintaining applicable environmental and administrative controls.
Together, the measures turn three years of CAAC-AFRA cooperation into a practical regulatory pathway combining CAAC oversight, AFRA-accredited disassembly practices and trusted digital provenance to support aviation safety and responsible reuse in China.
AFRA has more than 60 accredited organisations globally, including more than 40 organisations dedicated to aircraft or engine disassembly. Over the past 12 months, AFRA-accredited organisations have collectively disassembled more than 300 aircraft and more than 500 engines.
