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

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

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

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

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

The state-owned Commercial Aircraft 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 concerning the worth of the offers or supply dates.

But if the orders undergo, they’d take the variety of recognized offers for the C919 to over 1,100, based mostly on figures from earlier COMAC statements.

Domestic media beforehand reported that 4 plane had been anticipated to be delivered to China Eastern — the nation’s second-largest service by passenger numbers — by the top 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 large stated in July that it could be permitted for supply by Chinese regulators this yr.

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