Boeing Partners with Chinese Aircraft Maker (BA)

US aircraft maker Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has agreed to work with China’s Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, known as Comac, on developing fuel-efficient technologies in aviation. Early last fall, Boeing predicted that the Chinese market for aircraft would total 5,000 planes over the next 20 years, valued at about $600 billion at today’s prices.

Comac is working on delivering its first passenger plane, the C919, which will compete with the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. Comac also has signed a deal with Canada’s Bombardier under which the two companies will seek ways to share information about new aircraft features.

The Boeing/Comac agreement did not have a dollar value attached to it, but the two companies plan to build a research facility in Beijing.