China's AVIC and GE form avionics JV, will create 200 jobs in U.S.

27 Nov 2009 8ak/GE PR: As Indian authorities continue to reject EADS' request for 49%+ stake in its electronics JV with L&T, China is on track to approve a 50-50 JV between GE and AVIC. Indian authorities must realise that in a global world when India rejects a proposal they will just go to another shore and may not set up in India for a decade or ever. That means a loss of jobs, lower economic growth, lower competition, more imports and we will further lose in achieving our goal of indigenisation. How many wake up calls does the FIPB need?

US-based General Electronics (GE) and Chinese government backed Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) has signed a joined venture to sell avionics systems and services for new aircraft. The JV is also expected to generate around 200 jobs in the US, which has been hit hard by recession even in aerospace and defence. 

“The joint venture creates approximately 200 jobs in the U.S., in addition to creating bilateral industrial cooperation with China,” said Lorraine Bolsinger, President and CEO for GE’s Aviation Systems. “Our immediate focus is to jointly bid the best, competitive solutions to compete for the COMAC C919 narrow-body aircraft program. This includes an open architecture Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) platform.”

Over the years, China has been trying to gain a foothold in the international aviation market, which is dominated by France’s Airbus and America's Boeing. Government-backed Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has said it expects the C919 to have its first test flight in 2014 with deliveries to customers starting in 2016. The partners said that they aimed to set up the 50-50 joint venture by mid-2010, subject to regulatory approval.

The new avionics company, to be headquartered in China, will offer fully integrated, open architecture avionics and services for future commercial aircraft programs. GE will build on its extensive avionics capabilities and it’s China Technology Center in Shanghai to create a technology center of excellence to serve the commercial aviation market.

Comments

[Jason Verdugo]

Crap! We should not be signing a deal with the Chinese unless its Taiwan.

[Ravi]

I really am confused. Why does the US encourage sharing of defence technology with China which is militarising to excessive levels and is a very real potential threat to the US itself? Any comments Jason?