Aircraft company launched in Xi'an

By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-19 07:43

China's leading aviation manufacturer has set up an aircraft production company in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.

Lin Zuoming, the general manager of the Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), said yesterday that the new company, AVIC Aircraft Corporation Ltd, is to provide parts for the existing domestic jumbo jet project.

Meanwhile, the new company will also have the principal responsibility for designing and manufacturing large and medium-sized transporters, bombers and special purpose aircraft, he said.

The new company has a registered capital of 12 billion yuan ($1.76 billion), he said.

But AVIC, which was launched last November by incorporating China's two leading State-owned aviation manufacturers, AVIC I and AVIC II, has injected its existing aircraft development and manufacturing assets, worth 33.5 billion yuan, into the new company.

The assets include AVIC No 1 Aircraft Design Institute, Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd, and Shaanxi Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd, which manufacture Yun-8, the largest transporter developed in China so far.

At present, the new company is solely owned by AVIC, but it will sign on other strategic investors within a year, Lin said.

One of those investors is the Shaanxi provincial government, which will pump 1 billion yuan into the new company and become a shareholder.

The new company is AVIC's latest effort to consolidate its diverse businesses.

Last month, a helicopter company was set up in Tianjin, and another company was set up in Shanghai that will produce engines for jumbo aircraft.

(China Daily 02/19/2009 page3)