China will need 2,900 new airplanes over the next 20 years, which will cost US$280 billion, said the Boeing Company in its 2006 Current Market Outlook on China, released on October 25.

Boeing said China's airplane market will develop faster than any other in the world, and will be the largest outside the United States. The type of airplane China is most likely to purchase is the 737.

China will buy 1,840 Boeing 737s in over the next 20 years. By then, China will have the largest fleet of such airplanes in the world.

By People's Daily Online