China's leading state aircraft maker Thursday launched its first global recruitment drive, offering jobs in fields such as military product development to both Chinese and foreigners.

"This is the first time for an enterprise in the military industry of China to ... recruit senior executives from home and abroad," the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said in a statement.

Jobs on offer are 13 vice president-level positions in 12 subsidiary companies, including AVIC Defence, which makes fighters and missiles, and AVIC Aircraft Corporation Limited, a transport and passenger aircraft producer.

Gao Jianshe, an executive vice president of AVIC, which makes civil and military aircraft, told reporters that the vacancies were open to Chinese and foreign nationals.

Asked whether foreign employees would be given access to the research and development of military products, Gao said AVIC "would hire those it trusts and not hire those it doesn't."

He added that the company aimed to "change from the conservative ways of thinking of the past to adopting an open and cooperative concept, so as to actively merge into the world aviation industrial chain".

"This is a big step forward for the company's international expansion," Gao said.

Gao said the global recruitment was also expected to facilitate the development of large homegrown aircraft, a major ambition for China's aerospace industry.

China has said it aims to build large aircraft such as passenger jets with more than 150 seats, fanning expectations that it could eventually compete against Boeing and Airbus.

AVIC, created from a merger of two Chinese plane makers in November, now holds total assets of 320 billion yuan (47 billion dollars). Revenue last year reached 166 billion yuan, according to a company statement.

It said previously that it hoped to have sales growth of 22.3 percent a year and achieve annual sales of one trillion yuan by 2017.