China announce passenger plane maker plan
11.05.08
China unveiled plans to launch its own jumbo jet maker in Shanghai today, in a move that could eventually rival Airbus and Boeing. The new company, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (CACC), will research, develop, manufacture and market a made-in-China large passenger aircraft, China's Xinhua news agency said.
The country announced early last year that it planned to develop a 150-seat passenger aircraft, which could eventually compete against planes made by Boeing and Airbus, the world's two dominant commercial jet makers.
CACC has a registered capital of 19 billion yuan (£1.4 billion), Xinhua said, with the government investing 6 billion yuan to become the largest shareholder with 30% of the capital. A consortium made up of the municipal government of Shanghai - where the ARJ21 90-seat regional jet is being developed - and China's two state aircraft makers, AVIC I and AVIC II, will have a 25 percent share for 5 billion yuan, it said.
The new larger jumbo jet aircraft, expected to take off by 2020, will be assembled in Shanghai, with the nose, fuselage and tail sections to be manufactured in other parts of the country by companies controlled by AVIC I and AVIC II.
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