One of China's newly rich has ordered three Airbus corporate jetliners (ACJs) worth at least 1.3 billion yuan (US$163 million), according to officials from Airbus China, and First Financial Journal reported on Monday that there is still huge market potential for private jets in China.

Boeing Business Jets President Steven Hill said, "We hope to get 100 jet orders before the end of this year." He said Boeing has received 98 orders since 1996, 39 percent of which were from individuals.

Zhang Yue, president of Broad Air-Conditioning Co., became the first Chinese to own a private jet and has passed his pilot's license, and according to First Financial Journal 300,000 people in China can afford them.

In August, when the first Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition was held in Shanghai, producers including Raytheon, Dassault, Gulfstream and Bombardier attended to seek business opportunities, though no deals were sealed at it.

"They still thought China would become the biggest nation to consume the private jet," said Yang Xiaonong, executive president of China General Aviation Net, a Changsha-based aviation business website in central China's Hunan Province.

Early this year, another entrepreneur in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, bought a plane called "No. 1 Premier" from Raytheon of the US at a price of US$8 million.

Insiders forecast China's business jet market will hit over US$9 billion within 10 years, with the number of business or private jets expected to rise from 20 to more than 600.

Delivery of the 3 ACJs to the most recent client will start in 2006, an Airbus press release said, but would not disclose the name of the customer or whether he is linked to any enterprise.

The ACJ Family is derived from Airbus A319, the catalogue price of which ranges from US$54.4 million to US$66.5 million.

"Over the next few years, we anticipate steady growth in the demand of business jets as more companies need fast transportation for their business," a press official from Airbus China told China Daily.

Li Linhai, the CEO of Shanghai Hangmao International Trade Co. Ltd. who also owns two jets, told First Financial Journal that the factor which would limit the development of private jet market in China is not only how rich you are, but also how people would look at you.

"We cannot fly in a high-profile way," Li Linhai said. He said private planes are not for luxurious enjoyment, but for business efficiency, even though the media and general public might think otherwise.

(China Daily, China.org.cn by Zhang Rui November 23, 2005)