The aircraft has gained recognition from its Pakistani users.

"During my trips to many countries, almost everyone I met would ask me about the aircraft. Many said they want to join this project," Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, told China Daily.

Compared with the single-seat FC-1, the two-seater will have better aerodynamic design and more advanced avionic systems. It can be used as a trainer aircraft and will outperform the single-seat model in terms of air-to-surface strikes, Ma said.

Another aircraft highlighted by the Chinese exporter at the Paris show is the L-15 Falcon, a third-generation advanced trainer aircraft also developed by AVIC.

Ma said the L-15 Falcon is among the few trainer jets in the world capable of supersonic flight. It has an advanced fly-by-wire flight control system and other state-of-the-art avionic devices. Beside its role as a trainer aircraft, it has multiple functions such as aerial combat and air-to-surface strike capability, according to Ma.

He said a contract to sell six L-15s to an unnamed African nation was signed at the end of last year.

Chinese aircraft have taken a considerable share of the trainer-jet market, with about 300 JL-8s — a two-seater intermediate jet trainer and light-attack aircraft — being operated around the world, Ma said.