Pratt & Whitney says it has won nearly $800 million in contracts from China airlines

ZHUHAI, China (Reuters) - Engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp , said on Wednesday that it had won nearly $800 million (654 million pounds) in contracts from carriers Air China <601111.SS> and Shenzhen Airlines to supply engines for their Airbus Group A320ceo aircraft. Doug Cai, president of Greater China, Pratt & Whitney, told a news conference on the sidelines of the country's biggest air expo in Zhuhai that Air China had picked V2500 engines for 18 of its A320 aircraft, while Shenzhen Airlines selected the engine for 13 of its jets. The V2500 engine is designed and manufactured by International Aero Engines, a global partnership of aerospace firms including Pratt & Whitney, Japanese Aero Engine Corp and MTU Aero Engines. Pratt & Whitney also said it would assess opportunities for involvement in planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's (COMAC) [CMAFC.UL] project to develop a wide-body passenger aircraft with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). The jumbo jet project represents the two countries' aim to compete in the wide-body segment, currently controlled by Europe's Airbus Group and Boeing Co of the United States. The plane would be China's largest-ever aircraft, as well as Russia's biggest post-Cold War airliner. COMAC and UTC said in June last year they want to begin deliveries of the jet in 2025, a target most Western industry analysts consider extremely ambitious. (The story has been refiled to correct acronym to UAC from UTC in 4th paragraph) (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)