Don't underrate China. When Columbus sailed the Atlantic on his 60 foot Channel freighter, the Chinese were sailing around the world on 450 foot ships. They can do it.
Quick invest billions in airplane plants to help poor China to develop the skills to make large aircraft.
Move most of your wing and engine plants there to save money. S/C
They would never steel the manufacturing skills.
This is what Boeing and others are doing right now.
Smart.
'Course, back then they had an emperor, and weren't fighting the ennui of socialism.
That's like saying the Egyptians are great architects because of their proven prowess with pyramids.
3000 years and still eating with sticks, shows an inability to put efficiency first. Ships weren't the only technology shelved by the Chinese. Mechanical mills and farming implements were all cast aside to maintain their society's hierarchy.
I don't underestimate their ability to copy technology. I do, however, question their quality control, just like Airbus'.
China has a ton of problems they'll have to overcome in the next few years before any of these lofty economic goals come within reach. For example, the 900B dollar in bad loans, equivalent of the entirety of their foregin currency reserves.
And the slew of SOEs that don't operate on profit and rely on the above said loans in order to provide employment. As their economy overheats and some of the obvious (at least to me) construction and commodities bubbles pop, it'll be interesting to see how they deal with the result social problems.
Sure they can, if it's made out of wood. When we need another Spruce Goose we can have them built it.