Cessna plans to make private jets in China

Cessna Aircraft Co. and Aviation Industry Corp., a Chinese state-owned company, announced an agreement Friday make small planes and business jets in China. The pact was signed in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Los Angeles Times reported. The two companies plan to partner with the city of Chengdu in Sichuan province to set up a factory there. The joint venture's first factory would produce Cessna models that have already been developed. The next phase, officials said, would involve developing a new business jet to be made in China and sold worldwide. Cessna, which is headquartered in Wichita, Kan., would be the first U.S. airplane manufacturer to produce business jets in China if everything goes according to plan, the Times said. Bombardier Inc., a Canadian company that is trying to crack the Chinese market, said there are 170 business jets in the country now, triple the number four years ago. Bombardier predicts there will be 2,360 two decades from now. The growing wealth of the richest Chinese has made the country a major market for luxury goods, including expensive cars and now private planes.