Hongdu's predecessor was the Sino-Italian National Aircraft Works (SINAW), established in December 1934 in Nanchang.

It was a joint venture between the Republic of China and the Kingdom of Italy, after Chiang Kai-shek signed an agreement with Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini a year before.

[2] After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, SINAW factories were severely damaged by Japanese aerial bombing.

On 9 December 1937, Chiang Kai-shek confiscated Italian shares and properties and renamed the company Central Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Factory (中央南昌飛機製造廠).

[2] After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the company was re-established in 1951 as the state-run Hongdu Machinery-building Factory and later as Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation.