China's first indigenously designed commercial regional aircraft, the ARJ21, was delivered to its client the Chengdu Airlines on Sunday, representing a new landmark for the aircraft manufacturing industry.
The twin-engine passenger plane, produced by the Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), will fly between the southwest China city of Chengdu and seven other cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
The plane is China's first regional jet manufactured according to international standards. Following its maiden flight in 2008, it went through six years of grueling tests before being awarded airworthiness certificates from both the Chinese and US aviation regulators.
Delivery of the ARJ21 is another big event for the Chinese aircraft manufacturing sector in just one month, following the unveiling of the country's first C919 aircraft on Nov. 2. With 158 seats and a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, the large passenger plane is expected to compete with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing's new-generation 737. The country's constant inputs in beefing up its aircraft manufacturing capability over the past years have been warmly received by markets both home and abroad.
COMAC, manufacturer of the two aircraft models, has received more than 300 orders for the ARJ21 aircraft from 19 airlines, including three from the Republic of Congo, and another 517 orders for the C919 planes from 21 foreign and domestic customers.
In the meantime, multiple aviation manufacturing projects have been carried out across the county. One of them is a P750 production facility co-established by BAIC Group and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Construction on the manufacturing base started in late October. Upon full operation, the facility is expected to produce 70 units of P750 airplanes annually. P750 is a 10-seat single-engine turboprop fixed wing aircraft. It has obtained qualification from more than 20 countries and areas and can be used in the areas of passenger and freight transport, tour and sightseeing, aerial photography, aerial survey and remote sensing.
Earlier in November, Premier Li Keqiang issued an instruction encouraging the civil aircraft industry to work harder to strengthen China's capacity in high-end equipment manufacturing and make it a real manufacturing power.
The government will lend support to international cooperation in basic research and cutting-edge aviation technology development, and encourage cooperation between domestic and foreign enterprises and institutions in developing aero products for civil use among many other areas, according to a development plan for the civil aviation industry in 2013-2020 issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. For an industry featuring high risks, huge investment and long period for payback, it is a sensible and inevitable choice for the Chinese aircraft manufacturing sector to get integrated into the global industrial chain. With consolidated progress in product development and strong government incentives, it is well expected that aircraft manufacturing in China will move up a gear and see more bumper years on the road ahead.
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