President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang issued instructions as China’s first domestically-produced large passenger aircraft, C919, was unveiled on Nov 2.

President Xi expressed his congratulations to developers and called for careful preparation for a maiden flight.

He said safety and quality of the aircraft should be prioritized during preparations for the first flight, scheduled for next year.

Premier Li called for continued improvement of China’s ability in producing large planes and optimization of the modern passenger plane industry so as to increase China’s capacity in producing advanced equipment and make contributions to building the country into a manufacturing power.

Vice-Premier Ma Kai was present and spoke while the plane was unveiled. He extended his congratulations on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.

The C919 was developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China and, when cleared for commercial use, it is expected to compete with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing’s new-generation 737.