COMAC says China-Russia widebody jet gets engine proposals from 7 suppliers

In This Article:

(Corrects plane's name to CR929 from C929 in last paragraph)

SHANGHAI, May 30 (Reuters) - The China-Russia partnership building a widebody plane has received proposals from seven foreign and local companies to supply the jet's engine, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) said on Wednesday.

COMAC and United Aircraft Corporation issued the request for a proposal to engine makers in December and had stipulated a deadline of end-May.

The Chinese state planemaker said in a statement on its website that it would now set up a China-Russia team to analyse the proposals and would aim to complete their evaluations before the end of the year.

It did not identify which companies had submitted proposals or say how many proposals there were in total. A spokesman for the company declined to provide further comment.

Rolls Royce told the state-run China Daily newspaper in April that it planned to bid.

China has been investing billions of dollars into developing jets to raise its profile in global aviation and to disrupt the current Boeing Co and Airbus SE duopoly.

The company, which sent its C919 narrowbody jet on its maiden flights last year, wants the CR929 wide-body to eventually take 10 percent of a market dominated by the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. (Reporting by Brenda Goh. Editing by Jane Merriman)