Aircraft makers from both China and Russia are teaming up to jointly develop engines for a new wide-body aircraft project.

It's seen as an attempt to eventually break the double monopoly of General Electric and Rolls-Royce, reports the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The model of C929.

The newspaper quotes Victor Kladov, director of international cooperation and regional policy for Rostec, a Russian state corporation which develops high tech projects for the civil and defense sector. Kladov is quoted as saying that it was a top priority to develop and make engines for the new 280-seat wide-body jet, the C929. "Only China and Russia will be the manufacturers of the engine," he said, and "we'll try our best to produce a top-class engine, to support this aeroplane project."

However, Kladov said the possibility of cooperating with GE and Rolls-Royce had not been ruled out completely, with participation in the development of the engine possible in the early stages.

To develop the giant long-distance passenger plane, a joint venture was established by the Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and several Russian corporations including aircraft assembler, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Rostec, with China and Russian corporations each holding a 50% stake.

The widebody jet is designed to have a range of 120,000 kilometers and is set to be completed by 2025.

COMAC's first success in aircraft production came in 2015 with the launch of the domestically produced narrow-body passenger plane, the C919, which completed its maiden flight in Shanghai in May. It took nearly eight years to develop the 168-seat Plane, which has a range of up to 5,556km.

The flight made China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the United States, Europe and Russia.

Rostec also revealed that it was planning to co-develop a 15 tonne heavy-duty helicopter with the Aviation Industry Corp of China's general aviation subsidiary, Avicopter.