CHINA

Company Licensed to Manufacture Aircraft Tires: Guilin Lanyu Aviation Tires Development Co. of Guilin received the first such license China has granted. It will make the tires for nine models of large passenger planes, including ones built by Boeing Co. and McDonnell Douglas Corp., the official News Agency Xinhua reported, citing official sources. China joins the small number of countries--the United States, Britain and Japan among them--that manufacture aircraft tires. Lanyu Aviation took five years to develop the tires as part of China’s Torch Program, which provides funds for high-technology research. Guilin is in southwestern China.