China’s State Council has approved a plan to develop large commercial aircraft seating at least 150 passengers.
The state-run Xinhua news agency says the plan was approved at a meeting on 26 February presided over by premier Wen Jiabao.
It says an executive committee of the State Council “approved in principle the plan to develop the new aircraft which is set to begin as soon as possible”.
It adds: “Developing its own large aircraft is a priority of China’s longer-term scientific and technological development strategy… According to the meeting, after more than five decades of development, China’s aviation industry is ready to develop larger planes. The programme will enhance China’s overall international competitiveness and help transform the nation’s economic growth pattern.”
Xinhua says the aircraft will “compete with Airbus and Boeing”, although it adds that “while mainly relying on China’s own resources and efforts, international co-operation will be also actively sought”.
China’s Government has over the past three years been considering the possibility of developing large commercial aircraft in the country, although it is not clear which of its state-run manufacturing groups, China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) or China Aviation Industry Corp II (AVIC II), will oversee the project.
China has long sought to build large commercial aircraft in the country, where air travel is growing rapidly to the benefit of western companies including Airbus and Boeing.
In the 1990s Chinese manufacturers assembled MD-90s as part of a now-defunct deal with the former McDonnell Douglas. Since 2003 Embraer ERJ-145s have been assembled in China through a joint venture with local manufacturers, while Airbus is establishing a Chinese final assembly line for A320-family aircraft through similar joint-venture arrangements.
AVIC I is meanwhile developing a 90-seat regional jet of its own called the ARJ21 while several types of locally developed turboprop aircraft are being built in China.
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Source: FlightGlobal.com
