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.
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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 03 2015, @02:23PM
The Economist has a short piece also covering other players in regional jet segment:
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21677462-developing-new-large-aircraft-much-harder-it-looks-chinas-attempt-break-airbus-and-boeings [economist.com]