Canadian manufacturer Bombardier and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China agreed Thursday to work together in a bid to break Airbus and Boeing's duopoly for medium-range jetliners.

The partnership would see them collaborate on marketing, customer support and parts procurement for their commercial aircraft now under development to help each other increase their overall market share in emerging and mature markets.

According to the framework agreement, signed in Shanghai by top executives of the companies, they aim to cooperate to sell more Bombardier CSeries and COMAC C919 commercial aircrafts, as well as on development of future product lines.

The CSeries jets, which can carry up to 145 passengers, are scheduled for first delivery in 2013, while the 190-passenger C919 will begin delivery in 2016. Both will compete against the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Next Generation aircrafts.

"We believe that this collaboration will generate positive results for both the C919 and CSeries aircraft programs," Bombardier chief executive Pierre Beaudoin said in a statement.

"It also opens the door to further cooperation on any other projects that would be mutually beneficial," he added.

COMAC chairman Zhang Qingwei said the Chinese firm and Bombardier "have specific strengths that, when combined, will enhance the competitiveness of our respective aircraft programs and businesses as a whole."