China to produce jumbo sized jets by 2020
13 Mar 2007
According to State aviation authorities the aircraft being developed would have a capacity to carry more than 100 tons and would have military as well as civilian cargo and passenger versions.
The country is currently in the midst of a major expansion of its air network, and analysts say that it is in China's interest to ensure that the bulk of the spending in this sector stays at home. According to industry observers, the country is expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars by 2025 in the purchase of about 2,230 planes.
It is currently carrying out a five-year plan that will see the purchase of 500 jets and the construction of 48 airports. The Chinese market is estimated to grow to be the world's second largest after the US by 2030. According to trade figures, passenger numbers have risen by 105% to 138 million a year since 2000. The combined fleet of the country's air companies has also risen to 863 planes from 527.
The production of large aircraft would put China into an exclusive club along with the US, Russia and four other European countries. Boeing and Airbus currently dominate the industry. Airbus signed an agreement last year to produce its mid-size A320 in China.
Both companies have increasingly sourced aircraft components from Chinese state-owned companies and this has by now provided them with the technological foundation to design and produce large aircraft.
According to State authorities, the country was also developing a small regional jet, the ARJ-21, which was expected to begin commercial operation by 2009.
Along with the large aircraft project, China's new five-year economic planning programme also includes a moon landing by 2012.
