Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd, the Shanghai-based State-owned passenger plane manufacturer, said on Thursday that it plans to establish a multibillion yuan fund this year to support further research and development of aircraft components and related supply companies.

The company said the COMAC fund is undertaking the registration process and more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in funds are set to be in place.

The company said the investment fund is expected to drive rapid growth of upstream and downstream industry chains and other high-end manufacturing sectors, such metallurgical processing and dynamic controls, for the C919 - the homegrown large passenger jet.