Founded in 1951 as the classified 112 Factory, it is the oldest aircraft manufacturer in the People's Republic of China.

[2] The company mainly focuses on designing and manufacturing civilian and military aircraft and related components including jet engines, as well as UAVs such as SYAC UAV.

[4][5] On 27 November 2007, Cessna announced that the Cessna 162 Light Sport Aircraft would be produced by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

[6] The first production Cessna 162 took flight at Shenyang on 17 September 2009.

The aircraft was not a success and production ended in January 2014 after 192 were sold.