<P>The ARJ21 is getting closer to American skies as the FAA gave approval to China's first homemade regional jet to move on to the next round of qualifiers Tuesday. </P>
<P>The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on technology cooperation agreement. </P>
<P>The agreement, which covers the airworthiness certification of the ARJ21, shows the FAA has taken a critical step for the ARJ21 to obtain the shadow certificate, said an announcement on the CAAC website. </P>
<P>A shadow certificate gives preliminary approval of the airplane's airworthiness and entails an examination of the producer's ability to meet FAA standards. After the shadow certificate process is completed, the ARJ21 will be eligible for final approval. </P>
<P>"In the past, the US was reluctant to give approval to the ARJ21, but this MOU shows a significant shift and means the plane has a chance to qualify for the airworthiness certificate," an anonymous insider with the CAAC was quoted by China Business News as saying on Thursday. </P>
<P>"If the ARJ21 performs well in the shadow certificate process, it will get the FAA's certificate earlier," Zhou Jisheng, assistant chief of ARJ21, was quoted by the Oriental Morning Post as saying. </P>
<P>ARJ21 is the first homemade regional jet with its own intellectual property rights. </P>
<P>To date, it has had 240 orders from home and abroad. The ARJ21 is expected to receive the domestic airworthiness certificate by 2010, and gain the FAA's by 2012. </P>
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