China develops 60-seat regional jet -Xinhua

SHANGHAI, June 30 (Reuters) - China has unveiled a domestically developed 60-seat regional aircraft that will start test flights in September, the official Xinhua news agency said over the weekend.

The new aircraft joins the 90-seat ARJ21 jet, unveiled late last year and due for test flights later this year, among regional aircraft China is developing to build up a domestic industry.

China is also working on a long-term project to develop a large aircraft, aiming eventually to ease its reliance on Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Airbus (EAD.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).

The new turbo-prop aircraft, the Modern Ark 600 (MA), is an updated version of the 60-seat turbofan-powered MA60 model manufactured by Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of state aircraft maker AVIC I.

The MA600 is 40 percent more fuel efficient than the MA60, Xinhua quoted Xi'an Aircraft President Meng Xiangkai as saying.

AVIC I will be able to make 10 to 15 of the MA600s a year in 2010 to 2012, increasing to 30 units eventually, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Monday, citing an unnamed company executive.

AVIC I, which also makes the ARJ21, the country's first domestically developed regional aircraft, has started developing an updated 70-seat version of the MA600 which will be called the MA700, Xinhua said, citing Lin Zuomin, head of AVIC I.

The official Securities Times said on Monday that MA700 deliveries were expected to begin in 2014.

The paper added that the MA60 had received 122 orders, including from several African, Asian and Latin American countries, and had started volume deliveries. (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)