China on Friday introduced the primary supply of its new domestically produced passenger jet, with the plane anticipated to make its industrial debut early subsequent yr.

Beijing hopes the C919 industrial jetliner will problem international fashions just like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320, although most of its components are sourced from overseas.

The primary mannequin of the narrow-body jet, which seats 164 passengers, was formally handed over to China Japanese Airways throughout a ceremony at an airport in Shanghai, state media reported.

The transfer marked “an essential milestone” within the journey of China’s plane business, state broadcaster CCTV stated.

Footage broadcast Friday by CCTV confirmed the jet bearing the China Japanese insignia standing on a rainswept airfield and gave a glimpse contained in the plane’s cabin.

The state-owned Business Plane Corp of China (COMAC) handed the airline a “commemorative key to the world’s first C919,” CCTV reported.

COMAC stated at an airshow final month that it had secured orders for 300 C919s, however didn’t make clear whether or not the orders had been totally confirmed and gave no particulars in regards to the worth of the offers or supply dates.

But when the orders undergo, they might take the variety of identified offers for the C919 to over 1,100, based mostly on figures from earlier COMAC statements.

Home media beforehand reported that 4 plane had been anticipated to be delivered to China Japanese — the nation’s second-largest provider by passenger numbers — by the tip of the yr earlier than going into operation within the first quarter of 2023.

China sealed a deal for Airbus jets value $17 billion earlier this yr, and the corporate started producing its A321 mannequin within the northeastern metropolis of Tianjin final month.

The Boeing 737 MAX has been grounded in China since 2019 after two deadly crashes, although the aerospace big stated in July that it might be permitted for supply by Chinese language regulators this yr.

However lingering US-China commerce tensions and China’s worst industrial air catastrophe earlier this yr involving a Boeing 737-800 have slowed progress.