China's domestically developed large passenger aircraft, the C919, has received 1,200 orders globally, as Tuesday marks its third anniversary since delivery to its first customer, China Eastern Airlines.
By November this year, the aircraft had handled more than 2 million passenger trips, reaching over 40,000 safe operating hours.
The C919 project was launched in 2007 and has undergone a long journey of design, manufacture, flight tests, and eventual commercialization.
Data released by the Chinese government shows that more than 300,000 people from over 1,000 enterprises, universities and institutions in 20 provinces have participated in the development of the C919, achieving many historic breakthroughs.
In November 2015, the first C919 aircraft rolled off the production line in Shanghai. In 2017, the plane conducted a successful maiden flight.
In the following years, the plane carried out various flight tests in different locations and environments to comprehensively verify its safety, reliability and performance.
In September 2022, the C919 received its type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, marking a key step toward commercial operations.
China Eastern Airlines received the first C919 aircraft delivered worldwide on Dec 9, 2022. It is the first time in China's civil aviation transport market for an indigenously developed mainline jetliner. China Eastern Airlines began commercial operation of the C919 on May 28, 2023.
The aircraft reflects the country's growing capabilities in the global aviation manufacturing industry.
"I felt quite different piloting China's homegrown C919 jet for the first time. Because the aircraft has used many new technologies, such as a new flight control system and the Fly-by-Wire system. It can provide more intuitive feedback to our pilots (making it easier for us to operate the aircraft)," said Lu Ling, pilot with China Southern Airlines' branch in central China's Hunan Province.
"Since the C919 made its maiden flight in China's central Hunan Province, as of November 30, it has completed 952 flights, carrying more than 117,000 passengers," said Du Haibo, deputy general manager of the Hunan branch of China Southern Airlines.
Three of China's major airlines are currently operating the C919, with flying routes linking dozens of major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
A report released by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China -- developer of the C919 -- shows that by 2043, China's civil aviation fleet will reach over 10,000 aircraft, accounting for 20.6 percent of the global passenger aircraft fleet.
By 2041, China is expected to be the world's largest single-country civil aviation market, said the forecast.
China's homegrown C919 aircraft marks 3rd delivery anniversary with 1,200 global orders
Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for quickening the construction of a modern industrial system while making investigation in northeast China’s coastal city Dalian on Monday.
The premier also emphasized the need to adhere to the intelligent, green, and integrated development, strengthen original and pioneering sci-tech research and breakthrough, advance industrial foundation reengineering, and vigorously develop high-end equipment manufacturing to continuously inject new momentum into high-quality development.
Li first visited the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd, where he listened to briefings on the company's business development and Dalian's shipbuilding industry. He boarded a vessel under construction to learn about the building of liquefied natural gas carriers and other ships.
Noting that high-end shipbuilding features high technology, high difficulty, and high added value, Li called for strengthening the principal role of enterprises in innovation, accelerating breakthroughs in key technologies, cultivating technical experts and industrial workers with rich experience, further enhancing independent innovation capabilities, and creating and leading markets through innovative business concepts and iterative upgrades of products and services.
He pointed out that Dalian's shipbuilding industry has a fairly solid foundation in developing high-end equipment manufacturing, urging efforts to keep a close eye on international frontiers, focus on key areas for sustained breakthroughs, strengthen exchanges and cooperation within the industry, and strive to build advanced manufacturing clusters and a world-class shipbuilding base.
At the Dalian Nuclear Power and Petrochemical Co., Ltd. affiliated with China First Heavy Industries (CFHI), Li learned in detail about the research and development of nuclear power and petrochemical equipment, and entered the workshop to see the processing and manufacturing of nuclear reactor pressure vessels.
The premier emphasized that advanced nuclear power and other high-end equipment are of vital importance to national energy, industrial, and sci-tech security. He called for deepening the integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, accelerating the application of scientific and technological advances, enhancing original design capabilities and precision manufacturing capabilities, and promoting the safe application of next-generation nuclear power technology.
Li underlined that building a modern industrial system requires not only cultivating and expanding emerging and future industries, but also optimizing and upgrading traditional industries.
He said that the research, development, and production of high-end petrochemical equipment plays an important foundational role in improving the quality and efficiency of related industries.
Li called for strengthening digital and intelligent technology empowerment, advancing updates and upgrading standards, strictly regulating environmental protection and energy efficiency standards, making breakthroughs on a number of major technical equipment, and continuously enhancing core competitiveness.
Li also spoke with technical personnel on-site, encouraging them to carry forward the spirit of superior workmanship and contribute to enterprise development and national development.
Chinese premier calls for quickening building of modern industrial system
