Leonardo has signed an MoU with Kangde Investment Group of China within the framework of the Chinese/Russian CR929 long-range airliner programme. Leonardo will leverage competences and intellectual property developed in Italy while Kangde will provide the financial coverage for the programme.

Following the finalization of the agreement the two partners will establish a joint venture named Kangde Marco Polo Aerostructures Jiangsu Co. Ltd., which will be responsible for the development, production and assembly of composite materials components for the CR929 aircraft.

Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo said that the decision to participate in the CR929 broadens the core mission of the company's Aerostructures Division by leveraging the Pomigliano D’arco site and reinforcing Leonardo's presence in China.

China is expected to have requirements for more than 1,500 new wide-body aircraft over the next 20 years. Leonardo says it is also looking at potential opportunities to collaborate with the Chinese space industry.

Kangde Investment Group recently celebrated the laying of the foundation stone of the new facility in Zhangjiagang city, in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, where the carbon fibre fuselage sections for the CR929 will be built.

The CR929 programme was launched by COMAC, together with the Russia's UAC, in 2017 with the aim of developing a long-range wide-body aircraft. Leonardo signed a preliminary agreement with COMAC in 2015 to start collaboration for the development and production of sections of the fuselage made of composite materials.