First made-in-China passenger jet leaves production line after 7 years

The first passenger jet made by a Chinese company rolled off an assembly line in Shanghai on Monday following seven years in development and delays, a report said.

Comac says it has already received orders from 21 customers for a total of 517 aircraft [China Daily/Reuters]

The jet would make its maiden flight next year and then undergo test flights for another three years before it will be ready for commercial use, the report said.

In the same development, COMAC said in a statement that the C919 had already received 517 orders from 21 customers, including 50 from the state-run Ping An Leasing, a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance.

  For China, the plane represents at least seven years of efforts in a state-mandated drive to reduce      dependence on European consortium Airbus and Boeing of the United States, and even compete  against them.

"China's air transport industry cannot completely rely on imports. A great nation must have its own large commercial aircraft," the country's civil aviation chief Li Jiaxiang told an audience of government and industry officials.

A small truck towed the 39-metre long plane - painted white with a green tail - out of a cavernous building decorated with an enormous Chinese flag into the sunlight as project workers marched alongside, an AFP news agency journalist saw.

"The roll out of the first C919 aircraft marks a significant milestone in the development of China's first indigenous aircraft," COMAC chairman Jin Zhuanglong told the ceremony.

The aircraft, which has a range of up to 5,555 kilometres, will make its first test flight in 2016, he said - meaning that it will miss the original deadline of this year.

(Aljazeera/NAN)