China, Russia might expand deal to include engine design

Russia plans to work with China on a wide-body aircraft that would compete with jetliners from Boeing Co and Airbus Group SE and aims to sign an accord by the year-end. The government is ready to fund the initial stage of the project, which will focus on the design of a new twin-aisle plane, Deputy Industry Minister Andrey Boginsky said in an interview near Moscow. The collaboration may later be expanded to include the development of an engine, he said.

Russia's United Aircraft Corp and Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, known as Comac, are discussing a work plan and obligations as they seek to firm up a memorandum of understanding signed in May 2014, Boginsky said.

President Vladimir Putin is pursuing ties with Beijing as a counterweight to the US and European influence after relations with western powers soured over the conflict in Ukraine. He can boast little progress to date, with the Chinese economic slowdown and a plunge in oil and commodity prices causing Russia-China trade to slump 29 per cent in the first half of 2015 to $30.6 billion, threatening his $100 billion target for the year. The plan to design a viable wide-body jet might need as much as $20 billion of investment.