C919, a high-tech milestone achievement

On Friday, the first C919 aircraft for commercial use was delivered to China Eastern Airlines. The C919, China's first domestically-developed large passenger jet, made its maiden flight in 2017 and received a certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China in September.

That's of major significance for the domestic aerospace industry.

In the domestic aerospace industry, a large plane refers to one that can carry 150 passengers or cargo of more than 100 tons, and have a range of more than 4,000 kilometers. Such aircraft must meet strict safety standards. They are very complex machines incorporating a lot of high-tech components and materials. As an in-demand means of transport, they have a very high market value.

The C919 meets all these standards, as it can carry more than 160 passengers and travel more than 5,500 km on a single journey. It is of the same level as the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320, which are the workhorses of the industry.

In March 2021, China Eastern Airlines officially signed a contract with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the C919's developer, to purchase five of the aircraft, with the other four to be delivered within the coming two years. In total, COMAC had obtained 815 orders from 28 customers, and it secured additional orders for 300 planes at the Zhuhai air show in November.

With C919 being gradually put into commercial use, the domestic airline industry will be able to rid itself of its reliance on Airbus and Boeing. Large airliners are so expensive that they consume much of the foreign reserves of the nation; and they are a continual drain on resources as the domestic airlines must rely on foreign companies for the planes' maintenance.

The introduction of the C919 is a milestone achievement for the domestic high-tech sector. Besides COMAC, the plane's developer, there were 22 provincial-level administrative regions, over 200 enterprises, 36 colleges and over 100,000 individuals involved in bringing the aircraft to fruition.

The fact that China can organize such a big project means "Made in China" has reached a higher level.