China has unveiled its first domestically built passenger jet, a major milestone for the Communist nation as it pursues a decades-old dream of having its own civilian aviation sector to compete with Airbus and Boeing.

"The 39-meter-long (128 feet), narrow body aircraft was towed out of a cavernous production hall on Monday and shown off to representatives of government and industry in a characteristic show of pomp.

“The rollout of the first C919 aircraft marks a significant milestone in the development of China’s first indigenous aircraft,” Jin Zhuanglong, chairman of China’s Commercial Aircraft Corp. (COMAC), which built the plane, told gathered officials.

Workers spent a year assembling the jet and its unveiling marked the culmination of a seven-year effort to reduce China’s dependence on foreign aviation giants, specifically Airbus from Europe and Boeing from the United States.

At the ceremony, China’s civil aviation chief, Li Jiaxiang, said “a great nation must have its own large commercial aircraft.”

http://www.dw.com/en/china-rolls-out-first-homemade-plane/a-18820899..."

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