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When China’s new C919 150-passenger jet enters service in 2016, it will be flying with a high-tech network of avionics, display and on-board maintenance systems made by the new joint venture being formed between GE Aviation and AVIC Systems of China. GE’s flight management technology — which allows for more efficient landing paths — will also be part of the package, adding to the narrow body jet’s overall efficiencies through fuel, noise and emissions reductions. Taken as a whole, the system will function as the backbone of the airplane’s networks and electronics and will replace dozens of traditional, standalone computers usually fitted to aircraft flying today — creating immense benefits in weight savings, improved reliability and reduced operating costs. The plane’s maker, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd (COMAC), signed the letter of intent in a ceremony today in Shanghai.

Big plans: The C919 is China’s first large commercial jet and COMAC expects to produce 2,300 aircraft over 20 years.

As many as 70 million people are expected to attend the massive Shanghai World Expo during its six-month run, and GE’s ecomagination and healthymagination technologies are front and center in the Expo’s USA Pavilion and Future of the City Pavilion. On May 1, the Expo — which has the theme “better city, better life” — officially threw open its doors, drawing more than 400,000 people during the first weekend. GE’s interactive exhibits focus on renewable energy, water treatment, smart grid, greener locomotives, eco-friendly aircraft engines, and digital medical imaging and diagnostic solutions. Visitors can try out the 3D body scanner — or activate motion sensors on the ecomagination wall to turn cows into CFL light bulbs in the biogas exhibit. As Mark Norbom, President and CEO of GE China, says in the video below: “GE has got a long history of participation in Expos starting in 1876 when Thomas Edison brought his telegraph to the World Expo in Philadelphia. And in the following Expos, he brought other inventions such as a power generator, light bulbs, and the gramophone. One hundred and thirty-four years later, the spirit of GE’s innovation now extends to Shanghai China.”

One of the most advanced jet engines soon to enter service has just been selected as the sole western power plant for China’s new C919 single-aisle, 150-seat passenger jet. Made by CFM International, which is a 50/50 joint venture between GE and SAFRAN Group, the engine could end up powering more than 2,000 planes over the next 20 years based on estimates by the developer and manufacturer of the C919, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC. As Bloomberg News reports in its story today, with narrowbody jetliners making up more than 60 percent of all commercial aircraft, “manufacturers have estimated the market for new engines as replacements or on newly designed single-aisle aircraft at $30 billion to $50 billion.”

A flurry of announcements flew out of GE’s Clean Technology Week in China, with new agreements announced today that cover cleaner coal technology, high-speed rail, and locomotive manufacturing. The deals not only further cement the role that GE’s advanced technologies are playing in in the heart of China’s booming economy, they are creating jobs in both countries, including about 500 in the U.S. Today’s deals follow Sunday’s announcement that GE Aviation and China’s AVIC Systems are creating a global avionics joint venture for commercial aircraft, and yesterday’s news that China is buying 300 Evolution Series locomotive assemblies to upgrade its existing fleet. In the video below, Mark Norbom, President and CEO of GE in Greater China, describes the impact that the deals will have.

The new joint venture planned between GE Aviation and AVIC Systems of China, which was announced in Beijing yesterday, places GE technology and expertise squarely in an area of explosive growth. As Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO for GE’s Aviation Systems business, says in the audio clip below: “With 9 percent traffic growth, and a rising middle class which is largely underserved, China is the world’s fastest growing aviation market and we need to ensure that GE and the United States is part of this growth.”