DHAKA: The first plane produced by a Chinese government initiative to compete in the market for large passenger jetliners has been unveiled in Shanghai.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) showed off its twin-engine C919 in a ceremony on Monday attended by some 4,000 government officials and other guests at a hangar near the Pudong International Airport.

China’s aviation market is growing fast but relies on Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

The ruling Communist Party wants to claw back some of the commercial benefits that flow to foreign suppliers.

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, reports Al Jazeera.

BDST: 2057 HRS, Nov 02, 2015
RR