Brazil’s leading planemaker Embraer is eyeing the large Chinese market, and on Friday presented a Legacy 650 executive jet to martial arts star Jackie Chan to help build its brand there.

Embraer said that Chan would help the company promote “its entire line of executive aircraft, not only in the rapidly growing greater China market, but globally.”

“This delivery is a moment of historical importance to Embraer because it solidifies an already long and successful relationship between China and Embraer,” said Ernest Edwards, president of Embraer’s Executive Jets unit.

Organisers of the second edition of Hainan Rendez-Vous, Asia’s first and only private aviation lifestyle exhibition, announced today that some 250 of the region’s business elites will be flown by private jet to their April 1-4 show in Hainan, a tropical island that is fast developing into China’s version of the French Riviera.

Showcasing the world’s finest private jets, Hainan Rendez-Vous 2011 provides an ideal communication platform for manufacturers and buyers of business aircraft.

It is the only Business-to-VIP-Customer aircraft exhibition in the whole of Asia, and the region’s only show where exhibiting private jet manufacturers actually fly in such a large number of show attendees from their city of origin and back.

In total the event, which also includes a yacht exhibit and luxury property and brands shows, is expected to draw some 8,000 high net worth individuals this year.

The growing list of billionaires in India is an enticing prospect for executive jet makers seeking to recover from a slump in demand caused by the financial crisis.

Prominent among exhibitors at the ongoing Aero India 2011 air show in Bangalore were manufacturers such as US-based Gulfstream and Brazil’s Embraer – both hoping to seduce corporate high-flyers with their luxury private planes.

The global private jet market had a hard landing in 2008-09, with jet prices plunging by up to 30 percent and actual flying time falling by an estimated 40 percent.

Executive jets, the lofty domain of the world’s corporate elite, are being snapped up in Latin America’s booming market.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Brazil, the regional powerhouse that boasts both a wealthy clientele for the winged status symbols, and a homegrown manufacturer, Embraer.

BMW DesignworksUSA have teamed up with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, to present a new generation of the company’s executive jets.

This interior is intended for the company’s line of medium-range jets. Featured on the Phenom 100 and 300, the cabin blends modern styling with futuristic design.

It features a full galley and lavatory and a very Teutonic, tech-heavy lounge-style cabin with lay-flat seats, deployable tables, and muted lighting.

Embraer, the Brazil-based builder of executive jets, now offers an upgraded version of its popular Legacy 600 model, with about an extra 600 miles of range.

Priced at $31 million, the 650 mates the roomy three-zone cabin of the 600 with heftier wings to provide more fuel capacity.

Boosted by new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines, the jet can fly nonstop from New York to London, Dubai to Singapore, or from central Europe to India.