C919 passenger jet certified to fly as Xi Jinping urges China to ‘climb to top of science, technology’

China’s home-grown C919 narrow-body passenger jet has been certified to fly, according to state media, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging the nation to “climb to the top of the world’s science and technology”.

The single-aisle C919, manufactured by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) that is poised to challenge Boeing and Airbus, completed all its airworthiness certification work in September.

It has now obtained a “type certificate” issued by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the first aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2022, the state-backed Xinhua News Agency said on Friday.

Xinhua said Xi met with a C919 delegation on Friday in Beijing ahead of China’s National Day on Saturday and 20th party congress in mid-October.

“We must focus on long-term strategies, formulate practical goals according to the real situation, choose the correct technical route, and do it one by one, one thing after another. To be ambitious, we must strive to climb to the top of the world’s science and technology,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

Xi also emphasised safety and quality, as well as focusing on making greater breakthroughs in key core technology research, accelerating large-scale development and promoting manufacturing power.

Initial reports had suggested the C919 had received the type certificate from the CAAC at a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday after 14 years of development.

One of the photos posted online from the event showed a sign saying “C919 aircraft type-certificate issuance ceremony” in Chinese.