China's commercial aircraft manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), may be about to inject cash into Canada's Bombardier.
COMAC has held discussions with Bombardier to buy into either the company's beleaguered commercial aircraft division or its next generation C-Series airliner program, according to the Financial Times.
"Everything is on the table," a person familiar with the talks told the FT.
A plane flies over a Bombardier plant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 21, 2014. /VCG Photo
However, no decision is "imminent."
Bombardier's commercial aircraft division has struggled to recover the billions of dollars invested in the development of passenger jets intended to compete against the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families of airliners, but without success.
The Bombardier C-Series, which has been praised for its technologies, has been hit by delays and poor sales.
Bombardier received one billion US dollars from the Quebec government for its C-Series program, and the federal government provided a 372.5 million Canadian dollar loan towards development of its Global 7000 business aircraft program, as well as the C-Series program.
The two companies are no strangers when it comes to cooperation. In March 2012, COMAC and Bombardier signed a strategic cooperation agreement, which included working together on cockpit and electrical systems, as well as the supply chain.
Earlier this month, COMAC's C919 completed its maiden flight in Shanghai. The aircraft is the first commercial passenger jet independently developed by China.
