Back when I was living in China 10-12 years ago, the main criteria or importance of aircraft types was simply ---is it a modern Western aircraft (e.g. Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell Douglas) as opposed to an old Russian metal?

Reason - the modern planes are more reliable (less chance of your flight being cancelled or delayed due to mechanical problems) and safer. This was not my own opinion, it was advice commonly given by my Chinese colleagues.

At the time, pretty much the main trunk routes (e.g. Beijing to Shanghai) were operated with US or European manufactured aircraft. Air China (CA) was a Boeing client, and MU used Airbus and some MD-11s. Only some flights into the hinterland - like Xinjiang - you would be flying on Russian metal, like the IL86, which was a widebody, twin-aisle plane.

Probably now there are few if any Russian planes still operating in China---anybody know?