French electronics group Thales announced on Tuesday the creation of a joint venture in China to provide an in-flight entertainment system for a Chinese airliner set to compete with Airbus aircraft.

The system is for the future Chinese C919 airliner, intended as a competitor to the European Airbus A320 and US Boeing 737 medium-range aircraft.

Thales said it had signed a letter of intent with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) and a draft agreement with China Electronics Technology Avionics (CETCA).

The agreements foresaw the creation of a joint venture that could integrate a system developed by Thales called IFE in the cabins of the C919 airliners built by Comac.

The C919, which is due to be ready in 2014 for delivery from 2016, will be a short-distance and medium-range aircraft, with 168-190 seats depending on the version.