China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), the country's leading military aircraft maker, said that it has set up a finance unit to fund the company's future development.

The manufacturer of China's new-generation fighter aircraft, the Jian-10 (Fighter-10), set up its international leasing unit in January this year. The newly-founded finance unit is a nonbank financial institution made up of the reshuffled finance firms of two AVIC I subsidiaries, Xi'an Aircraft Industry Co. Ltd. and Guizhou Aviation Industry Co Ltd.

Funded by AVIC I and eleven of its subsidiaries, the finance unit has registered capital of one billion yuan (128 million U.S. dollars). AVIC I said its cooperation with China Development Bank, China Everbright Bank and China CITIC Bank has provided great impetus to its development since it was founded in 1999. AVIC I successfully developed China's first turbofan regional jet, the ARJ 21, which can carry 70 to 110 passengers. The company is also developing China's first jumbo aircraft.

AVIC I is a ultra large state-owned industrial group and provides the Chinese armed forces with 90 percent of their airborne weapons. It has already produced 1,500 aircraft, 50,000 aero-engines and over 10,000 missiles.

Company sales grew six years in a row to reach 80 billion yuan in 2006, up 15.7 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, profits reached three billion yuan, up 42 percent.

Source:佚名