China almost finalized the main assembly line of AN-225 to build second unfinished aircraft in 2016.. first flight was expected in 2019.China used to have close connections with Antonov in Ukraine. Antonov helped with designing the wing of the ARJ21 and the airframe of the Y-20. Chinese investors were also interested in producing the An-225 in China at one point.
at the last moment America intervene and Ukraine government broke the agreement.. as per the source, Antonov even shared all drawings and prints with Xian aircraft. and this was the major reason why China wanted to purchase Motorsich.. AN-225 with D-18T engines..
Chinese always fascinated about super heavy lifter..
don't you think, PD-35/CJ-2000 will be overpowered..but they don't have the PD-35 engines for it either.
WS-20/PS-90 extended variant with 45,000-50,000 lbf thrust is more than enough ...