General Electric Engines To Power Chinese COMAC C919 Jet

General Electric (GE) has been granted a license to supply CFM LEAP-1C engine to power China's COMAC C919 narrow-body jetliner slated to go into service next year.

"We received notification that GE Aviation has license approval for engines for the C919," a spokeswoman for GE told Reuters on Tuesday.

The US Department of Commerce, which issues such licenses and the White House declined to comment, the report said.

“I want China to buy our jet engines, the best in the World. I want to make it EASY to do business with the United States, not difficult," President Donald Trump tweeted on February 18, downplaying any national security concerns.

The LEAP family of engines was launched in December 2009, when COMAC selected CFM International, a 50-50 joint venture between American GE Aviation and French Safran Aircraft Engines, as the supplier for the 150-passenger C919 project. At the time, COMAC forecast there would be more than 2,000 C919 aircraft built over a 20-year period after its launch.