China has unveiled its very first passenger plane.

Called the “C919” it can carry more than 160 passengers and will compete in the “single-aisle” jet market.

This is as much geopolitical as it is industry or business related.

Here is why:

Boeing is projecting that over the next two-decades, total demand for “civilian airliners” in China will be $780 billion, equalling 5580 planes.

Boeing, Airbus, General Electric, Rolls Royce, Honeywell and many others are all looking to China to spur growth, especially as advanced economies slow down.

The problem is, the guidelines around C919 require locally-sourced parts. And this is a guideline that will likely be applied to all future aircraft (and other similar products) manufactured in China.

This cuts out Western companies who want their parts to be used in Chinese airliners. The only opportunity to partake in Chinese airline production is to share highly-sophisticated, expensive and likely patented technology.

And, once the Chinese figure out how to reverse-engineer the technology, these companies will loose out again.

How will Boeing or Rolls Royce compete in China if their parts (and eventually their technology) won’t be used — even allowed — in Chinese plane production?

Is the age of a Chinese economy dominated by Western, mainly American companies, coming to an end?

This is only the internal business-geopolitical dimension.

There is also the global-geopolitical dimension.

China is growing its influence around the world in two ways: loans and infrastructure building. In Africa, China is building roads, railways and airports in Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique and more. A home-grown passenger plane is the perfect way to begin pushing Chinese products into Chinese infrastructure.

The C919 could be heavily discounted or even provided complimentary to African airliners who are already using Chinese-built airports to land and take off. Why would African airliners refuse planes that are significantly cheaper than their Western counterparts?

China’s geopolitical strategy to dominate Africa can now be exploited to sell Chinese products to African businesses and consumers.

Can China leverage its loans to Latin America to sell the C919?

Will the recently formed and Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) be used an “entry” tool for Chinese companies?

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the launch of the C919 is what it it represents. China wants to change the makeup of its economy and this means manufacturing products like planes, cars, boats, houses, and other items that are higher-quality and more expensive.

And all of these products will be manufactured under two “guidelines”.

Source everything locally. Sell everything globally.

How will this affect your business?