China Completes Production of own Passenger Plane

China's first big passenger plane rolled off the assembly line on Monday as the Asian giant seeks the prestige of having its own aviation sector, and to challenge foreign giants Airbus and Boeing for market share.

Workers spent over a year putting together the C919, a narrow-body jet which can seat 168 passengers, at the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) facility in Shanghai.

For China, the plane represents at least seven years of efforts in a state-mandated drive to reduce dependence on European consortium Airbus and Boeing of the United States, and even compete against them.

"China's air transport industry cannot completely rely on imports. A great nation must have its own large commercial aircraft," the country's civil aviation chief Li Jiaxiang told an audience of government and industry officials.