Great link. This is such a fantastic illustration of the beauty (and terror) of global competition. And now I ask the question? Why isn't an American company in the mix? We have the technology, know how and manufacturing capabilities for this industry. In this case, we've got no one to blame but ourselves. "China, which has years of experience making military aircraft, thinks it can succeed where others have failed. ACAC sees an opening in the market today for smaller jets. China has recently begun building more regional airports, particularly in western provinces, to allow for more point-to-point flying and ease congestion at central airports. Those routes will likely be serviced by smaller planes, according to Chinese aviation officials. "There's a hole in the market we can fill," says Luo. That window is quickly closing. Since the ARJ21 project was announced, both Bombardier and Embraer have launched models that will rival it. To date, Embraer alone has already sold 127 of its 50- to 100-seat aircraft to Chinese airlines. Manufacturers in Japan and Russia also plan to field brand-new regional jets within the next three to five years. With the ARJ21's maiden flight set for next year, "China has a head start," says George Haley, head of the Center for International Industry Competitiveness at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. "But it won't last long." Stiff competition is likely to come from Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is working toward the 2012 debut of a fuel-efficient regional jet, called the MRJ, that will be built from the same advanced composite materials Boeing is using in its upcoming 787 Dreamliner. (Mitsubishi is one of Boeing's key parts suppliers.) The Japanese government is helping to bankroll the company's comeback in commercial jets with a pledge to pay a third of the MRJ's reported $1 billion in development costs. "
For many years, their military airplanes were licensed copies of Russian Migs. The correct expression should be "...years of experience copying military aircraft...". Who knows, maybe now they have a decent R&D dept.
The China market is so huge, we should think of its size as the equal of USA, if not bigger. But many people can only see yesterday, they have not grasped the enormity of this opportunity yet. Not to digress from OP's subject... both European companies and US companies have already set up aircraft service depot in China. These service centers are state of the art facilities that can rebuild an engine or refurbish an airliner from top to bottom. Only if you could check, you would find that most of the airliners are making regular trips to China for scheduled maintenance. i.e. many high paying jobs are already shipped outside of USA.