Stanley,
I did give the issue some thoughts and I fully admit my posting was a "shoot from the hip" and meant as a joke.
However to continue you more serious note:
My joke originates from my (subconsious?) feelings/image I have about the way Chinese used to conduct in their business/industry.
You are right this deal might be a sign of better business ethics and i fully hope you are right.
It is a wonderfull deal for Airbus and it will give them a strong foothold and a basic workload for service centers etc.
However i think it might go as it went with the shipbuilding business.
China an Korea first took over all easy big tonnage shipbuilding and now they are venturing into the more complex ships as well.
Although i (as a European shipbuilding engineer) may not like it, it is just the way things go.
I saw you posted this news also in the thread "Rotary jobs 2014" as you expect extra jobs for non-Chinese pilots and engineers. FarEastDriver already replied this will not be the case. And since your post on Rotary jobs i have already seen 2 other posts about (other) supposed Chinese jobs which do not materialise.
The 123 aircraft deal may initially lead to some extra jobs for some foreign pilots and engineers in service centres etc. But i think you have to realize China is big and still fairly closed. They will quickly be able to be self supporting in labour.
After a while there will be Chinese pilots who think there are greener pasteures outside their country and start competing on the already crowded job market outside China.
In complete open and comparable economies one will see that the percentage of foreigners will be equal everywhere and only the people who like to do so for personal reasons will work in other countries. I think that will take long time to come and we are to expect the Chinese pilots will be coming our way.
Same for Chinese helicopters although it will take somewhat longer. I expect the Russian helis will be coming earlier but that is another thread.
Meanwhile we (in Europe) will have to focus on what we can do better than China.
For instance upgrading brand new Chinese oil rigs up to European requirements.
Which i do now for a living.
SLB