A jet aircraft imported from Pakistan and used by the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong is up for sale in the city of Zhuhai, adjoining Hong Kong.

The paper said Trident, a 46-metre jet designed for short haul passenger traffic, was bought by a Chinese property developer from Beijing in 1999 to attract shoppers to its suburban shopping centre.

The aircraft, which was used mainly by Jiang Qing, Mao's last wife and the head of the Gang of Four who led the cultural revolution in its latter stages, was manufactured in Britain and imported from Pakistan with two others in 1969.

One was used by the Military Commission and State Council, one by Mao and the third by Lin Biao, Mao's designated successor and comrade-in-arms. Lin's aircraft crashed in 1971 in Mongolia while he tried to flee to the Soviet Union. The other two aircraft were not retired until 1986.

In Pakistan, these aircraft were in use by the national carrier-Pakistan International Airlines on domestic and some regional routes.

The paper further said company owner wants the plane to be removed from outside the shopping mall to make room for more car park spaces and has therefore decided to put it on sale.