It might sound surprising, but China's very first self-developed plane took to the skies only six years after the Wright Brothers invented the world's first successful airplane in 1903.

On September 21 1909, Feng Ru, a pioneering Chinese aviator, successfully flied an aircraft designed and built by his company in California, which was named "Feng Ru 1."

Feng then introduced airplanes to his home country, and that's when China's aviation industry took off. For this, he is considered the "Father of Chinese Aviation."  

Over the next 110 years, China aviation industry witnessed ups and downs. As the country is set to overtake the United States to become the world's largest aviation market by mid-2020s, its civil aircraft development has picked up pace.

CR929 to make maiden flight in 2023

C929, a planned wide-body jetliner under development by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, is set to make its maiden flight in 2023, according to the chief designer of the latter company.

It is designed with 250 to 320 seats and expected to challenge the Airbus and Boeing duopoly.

COMAC plans to start construction in 2021, conduct the first flight in 2023 and make the first delivery in 2025.

C919 to be delivered in 2021 

C919, China's first homegrown twin-engine trunk jetliner, is expected to get its airworthiness certificate from the country's civil aviation authorities and be delivered in 2021, according to its developer COMAC.

It is designed to carry 156 to 168 passengers in a normal operating configuration up to 5,555 km. The project started in 2008 and the C919 airplane conducted a successful maiden flight on May 5, 2017.

Six prototypes of the jetliner model were put to intensive test flight missions in the second half of 2019.

COMAC has received 815 orders for the C919 planes from 28 customers worldwide. 

ARJ 21 in commercial operation

The ARJ21, China's first domestically-developed regional aircraft, is already on its way to commercial operation at scale. Its Chinese operators are targeting to build regional airline networks with the model.

China's Genghis Khan Airlines plans to expand its fleet to 25 ARJ21 airplanes in five years. Established in March 2018, Genghis Khan Airlines is based in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Also developed by COMAC, the ARJ21 is designed with 78 to 90 seats and has a range of 3,700 km. It is capable of flying in alpine and plateau regions and can adapt to various airport conditions.

The first ARJ21 jetliner was delivered to Chengdu Airlines in 2015. To date, the airline has used the ARJ21 airplanes on more than 20 air routes and transported more than 450,000 passengers.

MA700 to enter market in 2021

China-developed MA700 turboprop regional aircraft is expected to be on the market in 2021, according to its developer the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

The MA700 project is in the trial production and test phase. The maiden flight is expected to take place this year.

It is designed with a maximum speed of 637 kilometers per hour and a single-engine ceiling of 5,400 meters, and is suitable for airports built in locations with high temperatures, high altitudes and short runway conditions.

To date, it has received 285 intended orders from 11 customers at home and abroad, according to AVIC.

(With input from Xinhua)