Of the 863 operating civil planes in China by November 2005, 534 are from Boeing company of the United States, a Chinese civil aviation official said in Beijing on Tuesday.

"Calculated according to the catalogue price, China has spent nearly US$40 billion on purchasing planes from the United States," said Li Jiaxiang, president of the China National Aviation Holding Company, at the China-US Business Forum.

He acknowledged that the growth of China's civil aviation industry has contributed tremendously to the development of Sino-US economic and trade relations.

"The greatest beneficiary is the US plane manufacturing business," said Li.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2006)