New China-Russia air link opens with maiden C909 flight to Khabarovsk

A C909 aircraft operated by Chengdu Airlines departed northeast China's Harbin for Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East on Tuesday, marking the opening of a new international route with the Chinese homegrown jetliner.

The Harbin-Khabarovsk flight service operates twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with a flight time of approximately 1.5 hours. It aims to strengthen aviation links between China and Russia, creating a "two-hour flight circle" among major cities of northeast China and the Russian Far East.

The C909, formerly known as the ARJ21, made its first commercial flight on June 28, 2016. Since then, the aircraft has carried more than 37 million passenger trips, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC).

New China-Russia air link opens with maiden C909 flight to Khabarovsk

New China-Russia air link opens with maiden C909 flight to Khabarovsk

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 8 pips to 6.7200 against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

Chinese yuan strengthens to 6.7200 against USD Tuesday