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Boeing Co said China, boosted by robust demand for business and leisure air travel and growing middle-income consumers is the fastest-growing and a fascinating market for long-haul flights.

The US aircraft manufacturer lifted its forecast for China, and said over the next 20 years, China will need 7,690 new airplanes, a 6.2 percent increase, or 450 more planes, from its forecast last year, according to the release by Boeing in Beijing on Tuesday.

In the next two decades, China is expected to remain the world's only trillion-dollar airplane market, which will be valued at 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars, it said.

Among the new deliveries, Boeing predicted that China will need 5,730 new single-aisle airplanes through 2037, accounting for 75 percent of the total, in addition to 1,620 wide-body fleet, which will triple the current size over the next two decades, and the demand for wide-body airplanes is foreseen to grow at a faster rate.

"The growth in China can be attributed to the country's growing middle class, which has more than tripled in the last 10 years and is expected to double again in the next 10 years," said Randy Tinseth, vice-president of commercial marketing at Boeing Co.

"With the economic empowerment of China's middle class, coupled with advanced technologies that make airplanes more capable and efficient, the future of commercial aviation market in China is very exciting," he said.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn