China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) said it has inked a deal with General Electric (GE) to co-produce engines for the country's first homegrown commercial aircraft.

With GE's technology support, AVIC I, China's leading aircraft maker, will produce the CF34-10A engine for its ARJ21-700 aircraft in a subsidiary in northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.

It was the first Sino-foreign cooperative program on the production of passenger aircraft engines, said a statement from AVIC I.

The cooperation came four years after AVIC I decided to import the GE-developed engine to power its ARJ21-700, a regional passenger jet that has 70 to 90 seats.

Both the ARJ21-700 and its longer version the ARJ21-900 are expected to make the maiden flight in March 2008, with mass production to begin in 2009.

AVIC I had received 71 orders for the ARJ21 series by January this year, from domestic airline companies such as Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.

Sales of the aircraft will reach 50 units annually on the domestic and global markets in the next few years, according to AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co Ltd.