Beijing calls the aircraft its first large homegrown passenger jet. It’s a prominent symbol of Beijing’s broader “Made in China” strategy, a campaign to reduce national reliance on foreign manufacturers. But instead of boosting China’s global stature in technology innovation, experts say the C919 is a symbol of its continued reliance on the West. That’s because a large chunk of the plane’s parts come from foreign suppliers, predominantly in North America and Europe.
’s first homegrown plane, more attention has been directed to this model because of its size. The C919 can seat up to 192 passengers and fly up to 5,550 kilometers . is also working on a long-range, widebody plane called the CR929. But the project, a joint effort by China and Russia, has likely stalled since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, said Kennedy. “That plane will probably never be more than a photo, never be more than a drawing,” he told CNN. “No one is going to be supplying technology to a Chinese-Russian joint venture.