MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/. Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company plan to establish a joint venture with Chinese partners to lease out Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliners in China and Southeast Asia, a source in the Russian aviation industry told TASS on Thursday.

The partners plan to offer 100 SSJ100 medium-haul passenger airliners over about three years through the joint venture that will be based in China, the source said.

"An agreement with China on the lease of SSJ100 will become a good basis for the global expansion of Russian civil aircraft-making," the source said.

An official representative of the United Aircraft Corporation declined any comment.

Russian experts estimate the Chinese market of regional airliners at about 1,300 planes in the next 20 years and believe Russia has good chances to take up a considerable share of this market.

Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft launched a process in early 2015 for certifying Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliners in China. The source said the project had gained the support of Russian and Chinese financial institutions, which would allow the joint venture to offer competitive lease rates.

The Superjet 100 project is a family of medium-range passenger aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft in cooperation with US and European aviation companies, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell.