Winny Wang/ Shanghai Daily news

China's first domestically produced regional passenger jet completed a successful maiden flight yesterday in Shanghai, moving the country's aviation industry one step closer to competing against foreign aircraft makers.

The 90-seat ARJ21-700 took off at 12:23pm from the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory in Zhabei District, where it rolled out of production last December. The trip through the skies of Shanghai lasted about an hour.

"The perfect maiden flight laid a solid foundation for achieving the country's goal to produce its own jumbo jet," said Zhang Qingwei, chairman of the airplane's manufacturer, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd.

The Advanced Regional Jet effort, a key high-tech project in China's 2001-2005 five-year plan, was approved by the State Council in 2002 at a cost of 6 billion yuan (US$879 million).

The 33-meter-long jet, named "Xiang Feng" or "Flying Phoenix," has a maximum range of 3,700 kilometers and a top altitude of 11,900 meters.

It reached only 900 meters during the maiden flight.

The aircraft is expected to be delivered to clients 18 months from now, after conducting more trial flights and earning an airworthiness certificate, said Hu Haiyin, the plane maker's Party secretary.

According to Hu, six ARJ21 jets have been completed so far, and production capacity stands at 20 planes a year.

The company has received 208 orders for the jets from domestic and overseas buyers, including GE Commercial Aviation Service, which bought 25 ARJs in a deal valued at 5 billion yuan.

The firm's next ventures will be a 100-seat version of the ARJ21, a business jet and a freighter.

The demand for regional jets should increase because of their fuel efficiency on shorter routes, according to a report on the Chinese commercial airplane market released by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

From 2008 to 2027, Chinese airlines will need to add 2,822 jumbo jets and 993 regional jets to their fleets, the report said.

The ARJ21 jet is considered a key step in China's plans to build its own jumbo jets and reduce the country's reliance on overseas suppliers such as Boeing and Airbus.

A jumbo aircraft is defined as a plane with more than 150 seats or a payload exceeding 100 tons. Only the United States, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Spain build the huge planes at present.