A private Chinese company is looking to take a share of the nation's large commercial aircraft project being developed in a sector that's usually monopolized by State-owned firms.

Guangdong Changsheng Aircraft Design Co Ltd, a private company backed by a real estate developer, plans to become a shareholder in a joint stock company that will take charge of China's large commercial aircraft project. The private company wants to do the conceptual and aerodynamic design of the new aircraft.

The company brought six 1:50 aircraft models to the Aviation Expo/China 2007 that opened in Beijing on Sep. 19. The models include three 150- to 200-seat single-aisle aircraft and three 200- to 300-seat twin-aisle airplanes.

It has completed the conceptual aircraft design process, said Zhou Jisheng, general manager of Guangdong Changsheng.

The government said in March that a joint stock company would be established to take charge of the development of China's own large commercial airplane. The country plans to make large aircraft by 2020 and the design process will start during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010). The government has not released details of the design, including size, cruise speed or range.

Guangdong Changsheng Chairman Zou Xichang said he would like to invest "several hundred million yuan" in the new company. Zou was ranked 70th on Forbes' list of the richest Chinese in 2005.

"We also hope to invest with the technologies we have," Zou said.

Guangdong Changsheng has about 30 aircraft designers and engineers. Eight of them used to be major designers of China's Y-10 passenger jet and the ARJ21 regional jet. The Y-10 was developed by China in the 1970s, but never entered commercial service. The ARJ21 is now in final assembly and will begin service in late 2009.

Photograph: Design image of CS2000/2010 series aircraft by Guangdong Changsheng Aircraft Design Co Ltd.