Sanctioned Chinese Military Giant’s US Business Keeps Growing

Cirrus Aircraft Ltd. is proud of its history in the US heartland: the private plane maker’s website includes details such as the company’s 1984 launch in a Wisconsin barn, the opening of a Minnesota R&D center and a North Dakota factory.

But there’s something missing from the company’s All-American timeline: Cirrus’s ownership by a sanctioned Chinese military manufacturer.

For more than a decade, Cirrus has been a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corp. of China, a maker of fighter jets, helicopters and drones for the People’s Liberation Army. AVIC, as the parent company is known, is also one of the ...